Angiotensin and peripheral sympathetic nerve activity

On the isolated vas deferens of the guinea-pig angiotensin potentiated strongly the height of contractions due to electrical stimulation of the hypogastric nerve; it did not affect the responses to noradrenaline and acetylcholine, nor did it elicit any contraction when given alone. Angiotensin likewise potentiated the responses of the cat spleen to nerve stimulation, but it also induced by itself strong contractions of the organ and reduction of the venous outflow. In experiments on the arterial blood pressure of anaesthetized and spinal cats, in which sympathetic postganglionic transmission was temporarily blocked by nicotine or tetramethylammonium, pressor responses to angiotensin were strongly reduced. As with some ganglion-stimulating drugs, the pressor responses, enhanced after a second series of nicotine injections, were reduced to the control level by hexamethonium. These findings indicate the involvement of peripheral sympathetic nerves in the action of angiotensin: the hypothesis is advanced that angiotensin acts at the peripheral nerve endings by promoting a greater output of noradrenaline.