Towards understanding the aetiology and pathophysiology of human hypertension: where are we now?

New insights into complement C3 and inflammation in hypertension

“…More recently, much interest has focussed on the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of vascular disease 1 and more specifically, hypertension. 2,3 With respect to the latter, hypertension has been found to be associated with increased expression of several indices associated with inflammation, including leukocyte adhesion molecules, chemokines, specific growth factors, heat shock proteins, endothelin-1 and angiotensin. [4][5][6][7][8] Indeed, hypertension has been described as an inflammatory process.…”

The ADVANCE trial: further PROGRESS with HOPE

“…15 This is simplistic. The multi-factorial pathophysiology of vascular events in diabetes mellitus (and hypertension) cannot be ignored and all these are not related or responsive to lowering arterial pressure.…”

“…The multi-factorial pathophysiology of vascular events in diabetes mellitus (and hypertension) cannot be ignored and all these are not related or responsive to lowering arterial pressure. [15][16][17] Surprisingly, only about half of the ADVANCE subjects were treated with a lipid-lowering drug (B45% on statins and B7% on other lipid-lowering agents), with a slightly higher proportion taking aspirin or an alternative anti-platelet agent (B60%). 13 It is interesting to speculate whether the impact of perindopril/indapamide would have been influenced by more aggressive risk factor management.…”

Hypertension and genes: perspectives from this journal

“…2 Several research strategies have been explored to dissect the genetic determinants of hypertension and it is more likely that a number of genes rather than a single gene would account for the heritability of this genetically complex disease. 1 One such research strategy is the 'candidate gene' approach and one of the most extensively studied pathways is the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS).…”