Intracardiac renin-angiotensin system and myocardial repair/remodeling following infarction

The circulating renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a classic endocrine system that regulates cardiovascular homeostasis during physiologic and pathologic states. Accumulated evidence has shown the presence of components of RAS in various tissues, which are upregulated in certain pathological conditions. Locally produced angiotensin (Ang)II may play an important role in tissue repair/remodeling in autocrine and/or paracrine manners. Following acute myocardial infarction (MI), cardiac repair occurs in the infarcted myocardium and structural remodeling is developed in noninfarcted myocardium, which are accompanied by activated cardiac RAS. In this review, the current understanding of independent activation of cardiac RAS and its regulation in the pathogenesis of myocardial repair/remodeling after MI is discussed.