Anthology of the renin-angiotensin system: a one hundred reference approach to angiotensin II antagonists.

AIM

To provide a historical overview of the renin-angiotensin system as a guide to the introduction of a new therapeutic pathway, non-peptide inhibition of a angiotensin II.

METHOD

One hundred references were selected as a personal preference, for their originality or for their potential impact on medicine.

CONCLUSIONS

This review raises the following questions for future research. (1) Will the long-term cardiovascular effects of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, angiotensin II antagonism and renin inhibition be similar or not, and dependent or independent of blood pressure levels? (2) What are the local-regional interactions between vasoconstrictor and vasodilator systems, and does the renin-angiotensin system synchronize these regional hemodynamic regulatory mechanisms? (3) If hypertension is the result of an interaction between genetic and environmental factors, do proteins secreted through constitutive pathways contribute to the genetic abnormality (prorenin, angiotensinogen, ACE) while regulated secretion (renin) and other regulatory mechanisms (angiotensin II receptors) provide biological support for the environmental effects?