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The Renin Angiotensin System

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Studies on Renal Disorders

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Abstract

The renin angiotensin system (RAS) is a hormonal cascade that is thought to act as a master controller of blood pressure and fluid balance within the body. In addition to the systemic RAS, there is a fully functional intrarenal RAS, which is postulated to play a central role in the development of chronic kidney disease. Indeed there is unprecedented diversity in the pathways affected by the RAS, which include generation of a number of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and effects on antioxidant enzymes. There are many therapeutics, which interrupt different steps in the RAS to primarily lower blood pressure, although these compounds also have numerous beneficial nonhemodynamic effects on both structural and functional parameters in progressive kidney disease. In this chapter we will discuss the effects of the RAS and therapies that interrupt various components of the RAS and on renal redox imbalances that may affect the development and progression of chronic kidney disease, particularly in the context of diabetes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Complications Division, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Glycation and Diabetes, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, 75 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Josephine M. Forbes

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  1. Josephine M. Forbes
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  2. Mark E. Cooper
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Correspondence to Josephine M. Forbes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine and Thera, Tohoku University, Seiryo-machi 2-1, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan

    Toshio Miyata

  2. Medizinische Klinik IV, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Krankenhausstr. 12, Erlangen, 91054, Germany

    Kai-Uwe Eckardt

  3. Graduate School of Medicine &, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Tokyo, 113-8655, Japan

    Masaomi Nangaku

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Forbes, J.M., Cooper, M.E. (2011). The Renin Angiotensin System. In: Miyata, T., Eckardt, KU., Nangaku, M. (eds) Studies on Renal Disorders. Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-857-7_16

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