Abstract

Renal artery stenosis especially that due to atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease is increasing in the population. The role of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system in the pathogenesis of renovascular hypertension is widely accepted. There is increasing recognition of the role of the sympathetic nervous system, from both afferent and efferent signaling pathways, as a contributor to development of hypertension. In this review we briefly summarize the experimental evidence for the respective roles of the renin angiotensin aldosterone system and the sympathetic nervous system as well as their interaction in renovascular hypertension.

Keywords: Afferent renal sympathetic nerves, angiotensin II, denervation, efferent renal sympathetic nerves, goldblatt hypertension, one kidney one clip rat, two kidney one clip rat.