Effects of angiotensin antagonists in various forms of experimental arterial hypertension.

The dependence of renal hypertension on increased levels of angiotensin II was investigated in conscious dogs at various stages of hypertension of four different types. Two of the most potent angiotensin inhibitors, Sar1-Ile8- and Sar1-Thr8-angiotensin II, were infused separately in various doses and at different times throughout the evolution of renal hypertension. The results of these experiments are consistent with the view that the renin-angiotensin system may participate in the acute and malignant phases of renal hypertension; they do not provide evidence for its participation when hypertension enters the chronic phase.