Regulation of angiotensin II in rat adrenal gland

Levels of angiotensin II immunoreactivity in the rat adrenal gland are over one hundredfold higher than those in plasma. It is unclear, however, whether the major source of adrenal angiotensin II immunoreactivity is intracellular synthesis by a local renin-angiotensin system, uptake by angiotensin II receptors, or both. Our studies show that angiotensin II immunoreactivity in the adrenal gland is predominantly attributable to angiotensin II (> 75%). Angiotensin III (16%) and other angiotensin II fragments are also present. The majority of angiotensin II immunoreactivity (73%), renin activity (73%), and angiotensin II receptor binding activity (66%) in the adrenal gland is located in the capsular glomerulosa cell layers. Dehydration produced by 2% NaCl inhibition decreased these activities in the capsular-glomerulosa. In the fasciculata-medullary regions of the adrenal gland, dehydration decreased renin activity but not angiotensin II immunoreactivity or angiotensin II receptor binding activity. Combined data from control and dehydrated rats showed a close correlation of the capsular-glomerulosa angiotensin II immunoreactivity with angiotensin II receptor binding activity (r = 0.94, p < 0.001) and a weaker, nonsignificant correlation with renin activity (r = 0.66, p < 0.1). In the fasciculata-medullary cell layers, no significant correlations were found between angiotensin II immunoreactivity and either renin or angiotensin II receptor binding activity. These data demonstrate that functionally distinct layers of the rat adrenal gland differentially regulate angiotensin II receptors and the renin-angiotensin system. These data also suggest that the majority of angiotensin II immunoreactivity in the adrenal capsular-glomerulosa is derived from receptor-mediated sequestration of extracellular angiotensin II by its receptors and is not due to intracellular synthesis of the peptide.