For a long time, Ang-(1-7) was thought to be devoid of biological activity, in spite of early reports on biological effects [28] . The importance of Ang-(1-7) was emphasized by the discovery of ACE2. Ang-(1-7) has been shown to release vasopressin as effectively as Ang II from neurohypophyseal explants [28] and to have actions opposing those of Ang II, namely vasodilation, antitrophic effects and implications of vasodilation caused by bradykinin [29, 30] .