This review highlights the potential neuroprotective and cognitive benefits of AT2 receptor activation, which may contribute to the clinical benefits of ARBs in hypertensive patients.
AT2 activation may confer neuroprotection in stroke and cognition; leaves open clinical relevance for ARBs, requiring prospective trials.
Recent clinical studies indicate that blockade of the renin-angiotensin system is important to prevent stroke, and accumulating results of basic research also indicate the possible involvement of the central renin-angiotensin system in ischaemic brain damage and cognition. When the angiotensin II type 1 receptor is blocked by an angiotensin type 1 receptor blocker, unbound angiotensin II acts preferentially on the angiotensin II type 2 (AT(2)) receptor. These results suggest the pathophysiological importance of the AT(2) receptor in the clinical use of angiotensin type 1 receptor blockers, which are widely used in patients with hypertension with the expectation of a decrease in the onset of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. We review here the possible roles of AT(2) receptor activation in the brain, focusing on ischaemic stroke, cognitive function and neurogenesis, and potential effects of specific AT(2) receptor agonists.
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Horiuchi et al. (2009) studied this question.
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