The effects of des-Asp1-angiotensin II on blood pressure, plasma aldosterone concentration, and plasma renin activity in the rabbit.

To examine the hypothesis that des-Asp-1-angiotensin II (angiotensin III) may be an important mediator of various responses to angiotensin II, both peptides were given sequentially at 25 ng/kg per min by systemic infusion to conscious rabbits, and the effects on blood pressure, plasma aldosterone concentration, and plasma renin activity were compared. The mean arterial pressure increased with angiotensin II infusion an average of 18.2 mm Hg, and with angiotensin III infusion only 3.2 mm Hg. Both peptides, however, produced a six- to sevenfold increase in plasma aldosterone concentration, and a threefold decrease in plasma renin activity. Renal clearance data suggest that the suppression of renin activity was not a consequence of renal hemodynamic change or altered sodium transport, but of direct inhibition through a receptor mediating a short feedback loop. These data in the intact rabbit, taken together with in vitro studies by others, suggest that the responses of these three organ systems to angiotensin peptides are mediated by receptors of varied specificity: those mediating vasoconstriction exhibit a greater response to angiotensin II than to angiotensin III; those mediating the secretion of aldosterone exhibit a lesser response to angiotensin II than to angiotensin III; and those mediating the suppression of renin release do not appear to discriminate between the two peptides.