Angiotensin II stimulates changes in the norepinephrine content of primary cultures of rat brain

Interactions between norepinephrine and angiotensin II were investigated in neuron-enriched primary brain cell cultures, which have been demonstrated to contain catecholamines, angiotensin II-like immunoreactivity and specific receptors for angiotensin II. Angiotensin II (7.5 and 15.0 micrograms/ml) caused significant increases in both neuronal and growth media norepinephrine levels, which were inhibited by saralasin. These observations suggest that angiotensin acts at its specific receptors to alter neuronal norepinephrine levels.