VCAM1 and hypertensive disorder: To determine the involvement of VCAM-1 in Ang II-induced hypertension and vascular dysfunction, we first evaluated VCAM-1 levels in the aorta after Ang II infusion for 14 days qPCR and immunoblot analysis revealed that VCAM-1 mRNA and protein levels were significantly higher in Ang II-infused aortas than in saline control-treated aortas (Figure 1A).