AGT and hypertensive disorder: Additionally, our data with 200 ng/kg/min Ang II also suggest that vascular hypertrophy precedes the development of hypertension, consistent with the idea that the effect of non-pressor doses of Ang II on vascular structure are due to direct effects of Ang II and independent of blood pressure (Owens and Schwartz, 1982; Berk et al., 1989; Griffin et al., 1991; Su et al., 1998).