[The renin-angiotensin system and progression of kidney disease]

CONSTRICTIVE ACTIVITY OF THE RAS AND DEVELOPMENT OF RENAL DISEASES: Several studies have suggested that the constitutive level of activity of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), and especially of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) which plays an important role in the kidney in determining intrarenal angiotensin and kinin concentrations, is genetically determined and linked to the risk of developing several vascular diseases, including diabetic nephropathy, and to the risk of renal function deterioration in glomerular diseases of several origins.

Large controlled clinical trials have shown over the past years that inhibition of ACE has a beneficial effect and protects against degradation of renal function in type I diabetes with microalbuminuria and also in renal diseases of several origins.

All these observations taken together suggest that activation of the RAS, which is necessary in certain circumstances to maintain glomerular filtration and tissue perfusion, can have a long-term deleterious effect on the heart, vessels, and kidneys, especially through glomerular hypertension which can lead to glomerulosclerosis. They support the use of ACE inhibitors, within the indications deduced from analyses of the large clinical trials, for protecting renal function in kidney diseases.