Renin News and Research

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Renin, also known as angiotensinogenase, is an enzyme that participates in the body's renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that mediates extracellular volume (i.e., that of the blood plasma, lymph and interstitial fluid), and arterial vasoconstriction. Thus, it regulates the body's mean arterial blood pressure.

High vitamin D level improves survival rate in heart failure patients: Study

Survival rates in heart failure patients with reduced levels of vitamin D are lower than in patients with normal levels. This is the finding of a major study carried out at University Medical Center, Groningen, Netherlands. Results also suggest that low levels of vitamin D are associated with activation of the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS - a pivotal regulatory system in heart failure) and an altered cytokine profile.

2 Sep 2010

RLY5016 potassium binder helps to regulate hyperkalemia in heart failure patients

Results from a recent phase 2b clinical trial may provide a new approach to managing excess potassium levels in patients with heart failure and heart failure with chronic kidney disease.

30 Aug 2010

FDA approves Novartis' Tekamlo for treatment of high blood pressure

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Tekamlo™ (aliskiren and amlodipine) tablets, a single-pill for the treatment of high blood pressure combining the only approved direct renin inhibitor, Tekturna® (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine. Tekamlo is approved as initial therapy for patients who are likely to need multiple drugs to achieve their blood pressure goals, and as replacement therapy for patients whose blood pressure is not adequately controlled with either aliskiren or amlodipine alone.

27 Aug 2010

Renin test can predict appropriate drugs for BP patients: Study

Commonly prescribed drugs used to lower blood pressure can actually have the opposite effect-raising blood pressure in a statistically significant percentage of patients. A new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University suggests that doctors could avoid this problem-and select drugs most suitable for their patients-by measuring blood levels of the enzyme renin through a blood test that is becoming more widely available. The study appears in the online edition of the American Journal of Hypertension.

20 Aug 2010

Steroid treatment can delay loss of kidney function

For patients with IgA nephropathy, a type of kidney disease, steroid treatment can prevent or delay loss of kidney function, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). IgA nephropathy is an autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys and a major cause of end-stage kidney failure in younger people

16 Jul 2010

Vitae earns $14M milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim

Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an integrated discovery and development company, today announced that it has earned a $14 million clinical milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Vitae's 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD)-1 is targeted for the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome-related diseases in a strategic alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim. The payment recognizes Boehringer Ingelheim's recent advancement of a small molecule inhibitor of 11beta-HSD-1 into Phase I clinical trials.

29 Jun 2010

Relypsa commences enrollment for RLY5016 Phase 2 study in heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease

Relypsa, Inc., today announced the initiation of patient enrollment in a Phase 2, open-label titration clinical study of the company's lead drug candidate, RLY5016, in heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease. RLY5016 is a novel non-absorbed oral potassium binder intended to prevent and treat hyperkalemia, a serious condition characterized by elevated serum potassium levels.

16 Jun 2010

Data from Phase IV study of Bystolic tablets in Hispanic patients with hypertension presented at ASH 2010

Forest Laboratories, Inc. today presented data from a Phase IV study evaluating the effects of Bystolic (nebivolol) tablets in Hispanic patients with hypertension at the 2010 annual scientific meeting of the American Society of Hypertension.

4 May 2010

Valsartan delays progression to type 2 diabetes in IGT patients: NAVIGATOR study

Results from a landmark study involving more than 9,000 people showed that the high blood pressure medicine valsartan delayed progression to type 2 diabetes in patients with cardiovascular disease or risk factors and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a common pre-diabetic condition.

15 Mar 2010

SEBM announces the 2010 winners of Young Investigator Award

SEBM is pleased to announce the 2010 winners of the Young Investigator Award. This is a $500 travel grant for undergraduate/ graduate students and/or individuals within 5 years of receiving doctoral degrees who are members of the Society to attend the Experimental Biology 2010 meeting in Anaheim in April 2010.

4 Mar 2010

Daiichi Sankyo's Benicar receives FDA approval for hypertension treatment in children and adolescents aged 6-16

Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the hypertension treatment Benicar® (olmesartan medoxomil) for use in children and adolescents 6 to 16 years of age. Benicar was originally approved in 2002 for the treatment of hypertension in adults.

11 Feb 2010

Early life stress could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood

"We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," said Dr. Jennifer Pollock, biochemist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author on the study published online in Hypertension.

10 Feb 2010

Reference platform for diabetic retinopathy and other vascular complications

The volume addresses a variety of current scientific discussions about mechanisms of damage such as growth factors and the VEGF/PEDF balance in the diabetic eye, the ocular renin-angiotensin system, and leukocyte interactions with the microvasculature among others.

22 Dec 2009

Alternative therapy for hypertension

New research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that an alternative therapy may be possible for treating some types of hypertension using an enzyme called ACE2.

18 Dec 2009

Researchers to receive more than $4.5 million in grants to study Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) expect to receive more than $4.5 million in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act.), including nearly $1 million from the highly competitive Challenge Grant program for a study that seeks to reduce the number of children who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, it was announced today.

15 Dec 2009

New Cat B 750 FAST imaging agent launched by VisEn Medical

VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced today the commercial launch of its new Cat B 750 FAST(TM) imaging agent for measuring and monitoring cathepsin B activity associated with disease progression and therapeutic response in vivo. Cathepsin B expression is well known as a key biomarker and therapeutic target in a range of diseases, including atherosclerosis, oncology, and arthritis.

12 Nov 2009

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals receives NDA approval from FDA for its Micardis Tablets 80 mg

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for its angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) Micardis® (telmisartan) Tablets 80 mg for reduction of the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes in patients 55 years of age or older at high risk of developing major cardiovascular events who are unable to take angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.(1) MICARDIS is the most studied ARB in this high-risk patient population and has been commercially available to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) since its approval in 1998.

19 Oct 2009

Relypsa commences patient enrollment in Phase 2b clinical trial of RLY5016 for treating hyperkalemia

Relypsa, Inc., today announced the initiation of patient enrollment in the PEARL-HF study, a Phase 2b clinical trial of the company’s lead compound, RLY5016. A novel potassium binder designed for chronic use, RLY5016 is being evaluated in the prevention and treatment of hyperkalemia, for which there are no current satisfactory treatments.

7 Oct 2009

VisEn launches new imaging agent for monitoring key hypertension and renal disease biomarker

VisEn Medical Inc., a leader in fluorescence in vivo imaging from research through medicine, announced today the commercial launch of its new ReninSense680(TM) FAST imaging agent for measuring and monitoring a key hypertension and renal disease biomarker in vivo.

24 Sep 2009

Vitae Pharmaceuticals initiates Phase 1 clinical trial of its novel cardiovascular agent

Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an integrated discovery and development company, today announced that it has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial of its novel cardiovascular agent, VTP-27999.

21 Sep 2009