Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia - First report of active renin in rat amniotic fluid

1. Epidemiological studies indicate that a reduced birthweight increases th e likelihood of human cardiovascular disease later in life. The role of hor monal factors in this finding is not known. Given that angiotensin II is be lieved to be a fetal regulator of growth, we have examined in the hypertens ive Ren-2 transgenic rat whether it has active renin in its amniotic fluid and whether this is associated with fetal underdevelopment. 2. We found that while the Sprague-Dawley rat contained no active renin in its amniotic fluid near term (20 days), Ren-2 amniotic fluid contains high levels of active renin and is associated with a reduced fetal weight. 3. This is the first report of active renin in the rat and allows the possi bility that renin overproduction plays a role in reduced fetal growth and t he prenatal 'programming' of essential hypertension that has been proposed to occur in humans.