Identification of renin and renin messenger RNA sequence in rat ovary and uterus.

An increase in plasma prorenin during pregnancy suggests that prorenin might be synthesized in the ovary and the secretion of renin or prorenin may be stimulated by an ovarian steroid-mediated process. Recently, renin and angiotensinogen have been identified in human ovarian follicular fluid. However, there is considerable controversy over whether renin is synthesized in the ovary or derived from circulation. In the present study, we confirmed the presence of renin and renin mRNA in rat ovary and uterus by Northern blot analysis with rat renin cRNA as a hybridization probe. Our data show that ovarian or uterine renin is synthesized in the same cells. This suggests that the function of renin might be closely linked to the reproductive process.