“…141 At the conclusion of this section it must be emphasised once more that kinins, in the intact organism, diminish the influence of the neuroendocrine sympathetic nervous system (NESNS) on the vascular SMC and on glucose metabolism in the contracting high-oxidative red fibres. 34,35,142,143 Possible role for endothelial and skeletal muscle tissue ACE in the development of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis Risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis, including male gender, aging, ACE-D-allele, stress, central obesity, smoking, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidaemia, are associated with various degrees of endothelial dysfunction (summarised in table 1). 117,[144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154] This dysfunction appears to be linked to an accelerated rate of ACE activity in the endothelial tissue of the whole vascular system, leading to increased generation of Ang II and enhanced degradation of kinins, and these observations support the concept that ACE overactivity plays a major role in the development of the atherosclerotic process in the vessel wall.…”