The renin-angiotensin system and thirst: a reevaluation.

Systemic injections of renin that stimulate substantial amounts of drinking in nephrectomized rats can produce plasma renin activities that fall well above the physiological range. Furthermore, increases in plasma renin activities that occur in rats with intact kidneys during experimental hypotension appear to be too low to provide the basis for the observed elevations in water intake. These findings question the contribution of the renin-angiotensin system to thirst under normal physiological conditions.