Ganong, W. F. | Search NASA

NASA NTRS1995

Reproduction and the renin-angiotensin system

A unique aspect of the circulating renin-angiotensin system and the many independent tissue renin-angiotensin systems is their interactions at multiple levels with reproduction. These interactions, which have received relatively little attention, include effects of estrogens and possibly androgens on hepatic and renal angiotensinogen mRNA; effects of androgens on the Ren-2 gene and salivary renin in mice; the prorenin surge that occurs with but outlasts the LH surge during the menstrual cycle; the inhibitory effects of estrogens on thirst and water intake; the tissue renin-angiotensin systems in the brain, the anterior pituitary, and the ovaries and testes, that is, in all the components of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis; the presence of some components of the renin-angiotensin system in the uterus and the fetoplacental unit; and the possible relation of renin and angiotensin to ovulation and fetal well-being. These interactions are described and their significance considered in this short review.

NASA Program Space Biology↗

NASA NTRS1985

Neural Mechanism by which Gravitational Stimuli and Stress Affect the Secretion of Renin and Other Hormones

The serotonin-releasing drug p-chloroamphetamine (PCA), as well as L-propranolol and chloriasondamine were used in a study which established that the pathway from the hypothalamus to the kidneys is sympathetic. Which hypothalamic nuclei mediate the response to PCA is being investigated experiments are being conducted to determine a readily reproducible psychological stimulus to renin secretion that can be used in rats. The effects of equithesin, urethane, and inactin on plasma renin activity were examined in preparation for tilting experiments. The relation of vasopressin-secreting neurons in the brain sem to PCA response was explored in Brattleboro rats that are congenitally unable to produce vasopressin in their hypothalami.

Ganong, W. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Peptides and neurotransmitters that affect renin secretion

Substance P inhibits renin secretion. This polypeptide is a transmitter in primary afferent neurons and is released from the peripheral as well as the central portions of these neurons. It is present in afferent nerves from the kidneys. Neuropeptide Y, which is a cotransmitter with norepinephrine and epinephrine, is found in sympathetic neurons that are closely associated with and presumably innervate the juxtagolmerular cells. Its effect on renin secretion is unknown, but it produces renal vasoconstriction and natriuresis. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is a cotransmitter with acetylocholine in cholinergic neurons, and this polypeptide stimulates renin secretion. We cannot find any evidence for its occurence in neurons in the kidneys, but various stimuli increase plasma VIP to levels comparable to those produced by doses of exogenous VIP which stimulated renin secretion. Neostigmine increases plasma VIP and plasma renin activity, and the VIP appears to be responsible for the increase in renin secretion, since the increase is not blocked by renal denervation or propranolol. Stimulation of various areas in the brain produces sympathetically mediated increases in plasma renin activity associated with increases in blood pressure. However, there is pharmacological evidence that the renin response can be separated from the blood pressure response. In anaesthetized dogs, drugs that increase central serotonergic discharge increase renin secretion without increasing blood pressure. In rats, activation of sertonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus increases renin secretion by a pathway that projects from this nucleus to the ventral hypothalamus, and from there to the kidneys via the sympathetic nervous system. The serotonin releasing drug parachloramphetamine also increases plasma VIP, but VIP does not appear to be the primary mediator of the renin response. There is preliminary evidence that the serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus are part of the pathway by which psychosocial stimuli increase renin secretion.

Review↗