The Renin-Angiotensin System in the Twenty-first Century

Renin was discovered more than a century ago as a pressor principle in renal extracts. Subsequent research has revealed the renin-angiotensin system to be fascinatingly complex biochemically, with intriguing phylogenetic and evolutionary aspects. In the human species alone there is now seen to be very diverse physiological and pathophysiological involvement, and hence important therapeutic implications. In the present relatively brief review we shall consider current understanding of the renin-angiotensin system, certain of the more notable recent developments in our knowledge thereof, and what is likely to comprise some important avenues of future investigation. For more detailed information, including an extensive bibliography, the reader is referred to a two-volume treatise on the subject [1], plus two recent detailed reviews [2, 3].