Cyclohexamide and renin release following renal artery constriction

Renal artery constriction in the uninephrectomized conscious rat produced "renin release": i.e. an increase in plasma renin level and a decrease in renal cortex renin level, and an increase in mean arterial pressure. A high dose (4 mg.kg-1) of the protein synthesis inhibitor, cyclohexamide, halved the rise in plasma renin level (with no change in renal cortex renin level and a fall in mean arterial pressure). We suggest that the increase in plasma renin level following renal artery constriction depends on (a) release from preformed renin stores and (b) de novo renin synthesis.