Renin Angiotensin System and Thyroid Hormone Crosstalk: From Experimental Approaches to Clinical Perspectives

The renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a central role in the mainte-nance of regular cardiovascular functions and is involved in several cardiovascular disease. In addition to the circulating RAS, the existence of independently acting local RAS has been demonstrated by biochemical and functional data. At cardio-vascular level, classical RAS components seem to be involved in fine-tuned events driving to the settlement of pathological processes, such as cardiac hypertrophy, coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis. In the last decades, in addition to the classical arm of local RAS, new important factors have been described, belonging to the so-called "protective arm" of RAS, with beneficial effects in the settings of cardiovascular diseases. A close relationship has been described between RAS and TH functions, in particular, in the events associated to cardiac hypertrophy induction by TH metabolic derangements. In the present review, main aspects and principal mediators of RAS-TH crosstalk at cardiovascular level have been evaluated.