CorSalud 2012 Oct-Dec;4(4)

This article is only available in Spanish

Yosit Ponce Gutiérrez, MD¹ and Arik Ponce Gutiérrez, MD²
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1. General Practitioner. Destacamento "Mario Muñoz Monroy". "Juan B. Contreras Fowler" Polyclinic. Ranchuelo. Villa Clara, Cuba.

2. First Degree Specialist in Comprehensive General Medicine. "Juan B. Contreras Fowler" Polyclinic. Ranchuelo. Villa Clara, Cuba.

Correspondence: Y Ponce Gutiérrez. Camilo Cienfuegos N° 63, entre Carmen Rivero y Federico Escobar. Ranchuelo, Villa Clara, Cuba. Telephone: 452826. Email address: yositpg@edu.vcl.sld.cu, froilanponce@capiro.vcl.sld.cu

Abstract

The renin-angiotensin system is more complex than was known until recently, since its action is not only limited to the plasma. Its presence has been shown in tissues such as the heart, brain, kidney, pancreas, reproductive system, lymphatic system and adipose tissue, with specific active actions in all of them, and at the same time it is present at the intracellular level of different cell types such as cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts. It is an endocrine, paracrine and autocrine system which is capable of acting at different levels in an independent or related form, taking part not only in the control of blood pressure and homeostasis of water and sodium as initially attributed, but it is also involved in the proper functioning of numerous organs and in the pathophysiological mechanism of structural and functional alterations, mainly cardiovascular and renal, which go far beyond hypertension.
Key words: Renin-Angiotensin System, Cell Physiological Phenomena