From water to aquaretics: a legendary route.
Man is water. When life appeared on earth, the primordial cell had a simple structure and could immediately ascertain from the surrounding aquatic environment the substances for nutrition and oxygen, without any need for structural complexity. As part of evolution, during the transition from aquatic to terrestrial life, vertebrates had to fight against dehydration as well as fish in the sea. In this complex mechanism of osmoregulation, the structure and function of some osmoregulatory hormones have been maintained during the evolution of species, from fish to man. Within the homeostatic mechanism, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is crucial in the regulation of renal reasorption of water and sodium. It is also involved in the regulation of renal plasma flux, blood volume and blood pressure. Vasopressin plays a hormonal function in the mechanisms of water homeostasis acting through Aquaporins (AQP), channel-proteins that allow bi-directional water transport across cell membranes.
Chair of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Valentina
V
Donato
Antonio
A
Lacquaniti
Valeria
V
Cernaro
Giuseppina
G
Lorenzano
Domenico
D
Trimboli
Antoine
A
Buemi
Rosaria
R
Lupica
Michele
M
Buemi
D000818:Animals; D020346:Aquaporins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D064587:Osmoregulation; D012084:Renin-Angiotensin System; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism*
D020346:Aquaporins; D014867:Water