[Vascular endothelial dysfunction]

The endothelium modulates vascular tone, blood coagulation, cell growth, and inflammation throughout the circulatory system. Endothelial dysfunction has been proposed to be one of the initiating events of atherosclerosis and is characterized by unbalanced concentrations of vasodilating and vasoconstricting factors, the most important being nitric oxide (NO) and angiotensin II (AII), respectively. In endothelial cells, AII, the key effector of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), stimulates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and negatively regulates the NO signaling pathway and thereby induces endothelial dysfunction. RAS blockade with an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers(ARBs) provides a rational approach to reverse endothelial dysfunction. In this review, attention has been specifically focused on recent findings and putative mechanisms of the beneficial effects of RAS blockade on endothelial function.