Angiotensin ii regulates nephrogenesis and renal vascular development. Tufro-McReddie, A., L. M. Romano, J. M. Harris, L. Ferder, and R. A. Gomez. Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia School of Medicine and Hospital Israelita, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
APStracts 2:0044F, 1995.
To test the hypothesis that angiotensin II is necessary for normal embryonic and postnatal kidney development, the effect of angiotensin receptor blockade or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on nephrovascular development was studied in newborn Sprague-Dawley rats and in Rana Catesbeiana tadpoles undergoing pro-metamorphosis. Blockade of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1) in newborn rats induced an arrest in nephrovascular maturation and renal growth, resulting in altered kidney architecture, characterized by fewer, thicker and shorter afferent arterioles, reduced glomerular size and number, and tubular dilatation. Inhibition of angiotensin II generation in tadpoles induced even more marked developmental renal abnormalities. Blockade of angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2) in newborn rats did not alter renal growth or morphology. Results indicate that angiotensin II regulates nephrovascular development, a role that is conserved across species.

Received 21 November 1994; accepted in final form 28 February
1995.
APS Manuscript Number F414-4.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Renal Fluid Electrolyte
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on  4 April 1995.