Angiotensin II acting on PVN induces sympathoexcitation and pressor responses via the PI3K-dependent pathway

•Cardiovascular and autonomic changes via ANG II action at the PVN level is proposed.•An intracellular signalling PI3K pathway intermediates ANGII central actions.•ANG II microinjected into the PVN evokes an increase in sympathetic nerve activity and pressor response in a PI3K-dependent manner.

In vitro studies have shown that angiotensin II (ANG II), via activation of ANG II type 1 (AT1) receptor plays an important role on the neural control of the blood pressure (BP), through an intracellular signalling pathway involving PI3K in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). However, to the best of our knowledge, no in vivo study has been performed yet to unravel the functional role of ANG II and its interaction with PI3K pathways in the neural control of circulation of non-anesthetized animals. Here, we demonstrate that exogenous ANG II microinjected into the PVN in anaesthetic-free animals evokes an increase in sympathetic nerve activity and BP in a PI3K-dependent manner.