Summary
PROJECT SUMMARY Obesity is a global epidemic that is associated with excessive central sympathetic outflow to cardiovascular end organs to elevate blood pressure and predispose to hypertension. Accumulating evidence from our laboratory suggests that deficiency of angiotensin-(1-7), a protective hormone of the renin-angiotensin system, provides an important link connecting obesity with sympathetic overactivation and hypertension. Our published observations, combined with preliminary data, support this concept by showing that high fat diet-induced obese mice exhibit circulating angiotensin-(1-7)