Figure 1.
The effect of nicotine/cotinine on RAAS components and on downstream signaling of AngII in adrenocortical cells leading to aldosterone production. The elevated RAAS activity and the putative upregulation of adrenal βarrestin1 (βarr1) by the tobacco compounds nicotine/cotinine are schematically illustrated. AGT: Angiotensinogen; AngI: Angiotensin I; AngIII: Angiotensin III; AngIV: Angiotensin IV; “+” denotes upregulation, that is nicotine/cotinine upregulate AGT to AngI conversion (mediated by renin), AngI to AngII conversion (mediated by angiotensin converting enzyme‐1), and the expression (both mRNA & protein) levels of AT1R. Nicotine/cotinine also putatively upregulate adrenocortical βarr1 expression. See text for more details and for all other acronym descriptions