The renin-angiotensin system: it's all in your head.

Components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) are expressed in a number of areas in the brain involved in cardiovascular control. However, it has been difficult to link RAS actions in circumscribed brain regions to specific physiological functions. In a study appearing in this issue of the JCI, Sakai and associates use a combination of sophisticated transgenic techniques and stereotaxic microinjection of recombinant viral vectors to demonstrate a pivotal role in the regulation of thirst and salt appetite of angiotensin II generated in the subfornical organ in the brain (see the related article beginning on page 1088).

Duke Scholars

Author Thomas Myron Coffman Medicine, Nephrology