angiotensin, n. Biochem.
(ˌændʒɪəʊˈtɛnsɪn)
[f. angio- + hypertensin n.]
1. A powerful vascoconstricting polypeptide which stimulates the production of aldosterone and vasopressin and results in an increase in blood pressure (more fully angiotensin II); angiotensin I, the inactive precursor of this, which is formed in the liver by the action of renin on a plasma protein (angiotensinogen), and is converted in the lungs to angiotensin II by a second enzyme.
Orig. called hypertensin n.
| 1958 Braun-Menendez & Page in Science 31 Jan. 242/3 The peptide received two trivial names, angiotonin and hypertensin... We propose the simplified name, angiotensin. 1961 Lancet 2 Sept. 510/2 It was found that hypertensive patients had a heightened vascular response to angiotensin and 5-hydroxy-tryptamine. 1968 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxiii. 20/2 Another enzyme converts angiotensin I to angiotensin II by removing two amino acids. 1974 D. & M. Webster Compar. Vertebr. Morphol. xvii. 436 It is also thought that these myoepithelial cells secrete the enzyme renin which..can transform the angiotensin I in the blood to angiotensin II. 1984 Tighe & Davies Pathology (ed. 4) xxii. 211 The zona glomerula is stimulated to produce aldosterone by angiotensin. 1992 Science News 1 Feb. 71/1 The fat cells in different parts of the body bind to different amounts of angiotensin II. |
2. Special Comb. angiotensin converting enzyme, a hydrolytic enzyme which catalyses the conversion of angiotensin I to angiotensin II.
| [1956 Jrnl. Exper. Med. CIII. 295 (title) The preparation and function of the hypertensin-converting enzyme.] 1960 L. T. Skeggs in M. Schachter Polypeptides 111 Helmer..had found a factor in plasma which enhanced the activity of angiotensin, and suggested to us that this factor might be angiotensin converting enzyme. 1988 BioFactors I. 177/1 Angiotensin-converting enzyme..acts on angiotensin I, a decapeptide, yielding angiotensin II, a potent vasopressor agent. 1991 Sun (Baltimore) 13 Aug. c5/6 Many experts believe medicines called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are the best choice to treat hypertension in diabetics. |
So angioˈtensinase n. [-ase] = sense *2 above; angiotenˈsinogen n. [-ogen] = hypertensinogen n. s.v. hypertensin n.; (now the usual name).
| 1958 Braun-Menendez & Page in Science 31 Jan. 242/3 We propose the simplified name, angiotensin, and its derivatives angiotensinase and angiotensinogen. 1967 Jap. Jrnl. Med. VI. 18 Studies on angiotensinase activity in plasma from normal subjects and from patients with hypertension and liver disease were made. 1978 Federation Proc. XXXVII. 602/1 Angiotensinase-A activity was determined with the 2-naphthyl-amides of L-aspartate and L-glutamate. 1985 Sci. Amer. Oct. 82/1 In 1983 a Japanese group published the sequence of angiotensinogen, the precursor of a small peptide hormone that regulates blood pressure. 1990 New Scientist 9 June 63/2 An example of receptor-based drug design is the inhibition of the angiotensinogen cascade. 1990 Jrnl. Devel. Physiol. XIV. 90/1 Complete inhibition of ‘angiotensinase’ activity was accomplished by the addition of protease inhibitors. |