Evidence for a putatively new angiotensin II-generating enzyme in the vascular wall

An inhibitor of angiotensin I (ANG I) converting enzyme, SA446, reduced the response to ANG I of blood vessels isolated from dogs and monkeys, but did not abolish the response even at high concentrations. The residual action of ANG I in the presence of high concentrations of SA446 could be abolished by (Sar1, Ala8)-ANG II. Vascular strips and crude extracts of vessels and lungs possessed the enzymic activity generating ANG II from ANG I, or hippuric acid from hippuryl-histidyl-leucine (HHL). The HHL-hydrolysing activity of the crude extracts was completely inhibited by SA446 (10(-7) mol/l) and/or Na2-EDTA (10(-3) mol/l). However, the octapeptide generation was not abolished despite the combined treatment with SA446 (5 X 10(-4) mol/l) and Na2-EDTA (5 x 10(-3) mol/l). The residual activity forming ANG II was inhibited by chymostatin and soybean trypsin inhibitor, which however did not affect the HHL-hydrolysis. Combined treatment with SA446 (10(-5) mol/l) and chymostatin (2.5 X 10(-5) mol/l) abolished the vascular action of ANG I but did not alter the action of ANG II. These results strongly suggest that besides the ANG I converting enzyme, another enzyme which generates ANG II is present in vascular tissues and lungs, and may play an important role in the local generation of ANG II, which possibly regulates the regional vascular tone.