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Renin-angiotensin system
Additional recommended knowledge
ActivationThe system can be activated when there is a loss of blood volume or a drop in blood pressure (such as in a hemorrhage).
Effects
Angiotensin I may have some minor activity, but angiotensin II is more potent. Angiotensin II has a variety of effects on the body:
These effects directly act to increase the amount of fluid in the blood, making up for a loss in volume, and to increase blood pressure. Clinical significanceThe renin-angiotensin system is often manipulated clinically to treat high blood pressure.
Other uses of ACEInterestingly, ACE cleaves a number of other peptides, and in this capacity is an important regulator of the kinin-kallikrein system. Fetal renin-angiotensin systemIn the fetus, the renin-angiotensin system is predominantly a sodium-losing system, as angiotensin II has little or no effect on aldosterone levels. Renin levels are high in the fetus, while angiotensin II levels are significantly lower — this is due to the limited pulmonary blood flow, preventing ACE (found predominantly in the pulmonary circulation) from having its maximum effect. References
Categories: Cardiovascular system | Endocrinology |
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Renin-angiotensin_system". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |