Pressor Effect of Renin on Pulmonary Artery Pressure

Abstract

IN 1940 Katz and Steinitz¹ reported that following the production of hypertension in dogs by means of an experimental renal ischæmia, no change was observed in pulmonary arterial pressure. These workers used a modified London cannula technique. so that observations could be made without anæsthesia in the intact animal. Using a similar method, Friedberg, Katz and Steinitz² found an increase in pulmonary arterial pressure in the dog after the injection of renin. They concluded that this was not due to a vasoconstrictor effect on the pulmonary bed, but to a reflexion of the change in systemic blood pressure through back pressure on the pulmonary circuit. We have confirmed the pressor effect of renin on the pulmonary artery pressure but are at variance with the opinion of the previous workers as to its causation.