Endothelial cells are essential regulators of vascular tone. They accomplish this by sensing humoral mediators and transducing their effects to the underlying vascular smooth muscle as well as by synthesizing vasoactive molecules that act in a paracrine fashion. In the kidney, the local release of these endothelial mediators, together with the concourse of specialized endothelial cells in the glomerulus, contribute to regulate renal blood flow, glomerular filtration, and tubular function that are intimately linked to sodium balance because they mutually influence each other. Ultimately, renal circulation and tubular function have a profound influence in systemic blood pressure as a result of the overall regulation of volume homeostasis.
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