A common hormone in the human body, Angiotensin II has long been known to increase blood pressure by causing blood vessels to narrow. In fact, the malfunction of the systems which produce or respond to this hormone can be an important cause of some types of high blood pressure. Some intriguing new data from investigators at the Cleveland Clinic, though, has demonstrated that in some situations the hormone can actually act in the reverse way - it can cause blood vessels to dialate.
Because this hormone, and the systems it controls, are typically very well understood by medical scientists, it is possible that new drugs could be developed which exploit this property of angiotensin II.
Researchers continue to investigate this new development, and there are plans to move the focus of the study from the current mouse-based model to a model that operates in humans.
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