title: The renin-angiotensin system: it's all in your head.
abstract: Components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) are expressed in a number of areas in the brain involved in cardiovascular control. However, it has been difficult to link RAS actions in circumscribed brain regions to specific physiological functions. In a study appearing in this issue of the JCI, Sakai and associates use a combination of sophisticated transgenic techniques and stereotaxic microinjection of recombinant viral vectors to demonstrate a pivotal role in the regulation of thirst and salt appetite of angiotensin II generated in the subfornical organ in the brain (see the related article beginning on page 1088).
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, and Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Coffman
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System / Q000502:physiology*