Effects of angiotensins II and IV on blood pressure, renal function, and PAI-1 expression in the heart and kidney of the rat.

The role of angiotensin II (AII) and angiotensin IV (AIV) as inducers of PAI-1 expression during hypertension was studied in vivo. A 2-week infusion of AII (300 ng/kg/min) via an osmotic pump increased systolic blood pressure (171 +/- 2 vs. 138 +/- 6 mm Hg), urinary protein excretion (32 +/- 6 vs. 14 +/- 2 mg/day), and renal (2.2 +/- 0.5 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.1) and cardiac (1.8 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.1) gene expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1). AIV infusion did not affect any of the above with the exception of PAI-1 gene expression which was increased in the left ventricles (1.7 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.0 +/- 0.1). AII-infused rats displayed a decreased creatinine clearance (538 +/- 75 vs. 898 +/- 96 ml/min) and hypertrophic left ventricles (0.275 +/- 0.006 vs. 0.220 +/- 0.011 g/100 g). Our results demonstrate that AII but not AIV infusion is associated with increased renal PAI-1 gene expression. Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel