Angiotensin-II activates apoptosis, proliferation and protein synthesis in the left heart ventricle of newborn albino rats.

Angiotensin II (ANG-II) is a critical regulator of various signaling pathways involved in growth and remodeling of the vascular, cardiac, and renal cells and tissues. Although it contributes to several physiologic and pathologic events in the cardiovascular system, its role in growth and differentiation of the newborn heart is still unclear. We analyzed the effect of ANG-II treatment on apoptosis, DNA synthesis, and nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) activity in newborn rat myocardium.