Fig. 7.

WD increases prorenin and renin expression independently of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activation. A: in an additional experiment, mice were subjected to WD or WD plus losartan (Los) and captopril (Capt) treatment in food for 48 h. Prorenin and renin were augmented in medullary tissues of WD mice. WD plus RAS blockade caused increased expression of prorenin, but renin was not different from control, suggesting posttranscriptional processing mediated by AT₁ receptor activation. No effects were observed in mice treated with losartan plus captopril alone. B: mice subjected to intraperitoneal injection of mannitol (20%, 1 h) showed increased expression of prorenin and renin in the renal medulla. *P < 0.05.