“…To date, constitutive B 1 receptor expression has been documented in vascular tissues of dogs ( Belichard et al ., 1996 ; Staszewska‐Woolley & Woodman, 1991 ), the central nervous system of spontaneously hypertensive rats ( Emanueli et al ., 1999 ), the hindlimb and pulmonary vasculature in cats ( Santiago et al ., 1995 ; Seyedi et al ., 1997 ) and human ocular tissues ( Ma et al ., 1996 ) and T lymphocytes ( Prat et al ., 1999 ). Factors implicated in B 1 receptor induction include bacterial endotoxin, pro‐inflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin‐1) as well as intracellular pathways regulating the cell response to environmental stress (e.g., the p38 MAP kinase and NF‐κB pathways) ( Bastian et al ., 1998 ; Larrivee et al ., 1998 ; Marceau et al ., 1998 ; Phagoo et al ., 1999 ; Prat et al ., 1999 ; Sardi et al ., 1998 ; Schanstra et al ., 1998 ; Tsukagoshi et al ., 1999 ). In turn, B 1 receptor stimulation may activate further these same pathways ( Campos et al ., 1999 ; Naraba et al ., 1998 ; Schanstra et al ., 1998 ; Tsukagoshi et al ., 1999 ).…”