Aldosterone-to-renin ratio depends on age and sex in children attending a clinic for cardiovascular risk assessment.

Objective: To determine plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and plasma renin concentration (PRC) and aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR) values in a population attending a Clinic for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Children.

Methods: We assessed ARR and associated factors in a cohort of 287 children (137 female, 4-18 years). Weight and blood pressure (BP) were recorded.

Stimulation of AT2 receptor exerts beneficial effects in stroke-prone rats: focus on renal damage.

Background And Aim: Angiotensin II acts through two major receptors: AT1-R and AT2-R. It is known that the stimulation of AT1-R mediates vasoconstriction, cell proliferation and fibrosis, aldosterone release and inflammatory response but, although the stimulation of AT2-R is thought to promote vasodilation and anti-inflammatory effects, its real in-vivo functions are still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of specific and selective AT2-R stimulation on the pathological events occurring in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRSPs).

Altered release of cytochrome p450 metabolites of arachidonic acid in renovascular disease.

The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate whether activation of the renin-angiotensin system in renovascular disease affects the cytochrome P450 omega/omega-1 hydroxylase (20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid [20-HETE]) and epoxygenase (epoxyeicosatrienoic acids [EETs]) pathways of arachidonic acid metabolism in vivo, each of which interacts with angiotensin II. Plasma concentration and urinary excretion of 20-HETE and EETs and their metabolites, dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids, were measured in urine and plasma by mass spectrometry in 10 subjects with renovascular disease, 10 with essential hypertension, and 10 healthy normotensive subjects (control subjects), pair-matched for gender and age. Vascular and renal function were evaluated in all of the subjects.

Factors influencing acute ischaemia-induced renal hypertension in rats.

Objective: To verify if the acute hypertension that occurs after reversal of complete renal ischaemia is related to the duration of ischaemia, is different in one-kidney (1K) and two-kidney (2K) rats, and is prevented by angiotensin receptor blockade.

Methods: Four groups of Sprague-Dawley rats anaesthetized with pentobarbitone were studied before, during and after a reversible, complete renal ischaemia achieved by functional right nephrectomy.

Results: In 1K rats (group 1, n = 21), reopening of right renal hilum after functional right nephrectomy of 180, 60 and 30 min was followed by peak increases in systolic blood pressure of 76.