New therapy for high blood pressure possible

A study by the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the CIBERCV highlights the importance of enhancing the resolution of inflammation to combat cardiovascular damage associated with arterial hypertension. The research, published in the journal Hypertension, reveals how a specific pre-resolving mediator, Resolvin D2, could be the key to preventing and repairing this damage, opening new doors to more effective treatments.High blood pressure is a major cardiovascular risk factor. Despite the wide range of effective drugs available, many patients fail to reduce their blood pressure to optimal levels, leaving a latent cardiovascular risk.

Several studies point to the immune system and the inflammatory response it triggers as key players in hypertensive cardiovascular damage. Since current anti-inflammatory treatments are inadequate to treat hypertension, it is essential to develop new drugs that counteract or mitigate this inflammatory reaction.

Now, researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the CIBERCV led by Dr Ana M. Briones have revealed that treatment with a pro-resolving lipid mediator, Resolvin D2, protects against vascular and cardiac damage associated with hypertension.

"Following tissue damage, immune system cells infiltrate the damaged area and promote the production of pro-inflammatory mediators such as cytokines. To prevent the inflammatory response from remaining excessively prolonged over time, different inflammation-resolving pathways are activated, driven by specialised pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs), which ultimately restore the damaged tissue," explains Ana B. García-Redondo.

However," she adds, "if this resolution of inflammation fails, chronic inflammation occurs, leading to the tissue damage observed in multiple pathologies.

The results, published in the journal Hypertension, show that in hypertension there is an imbalance in the production of pre-resolving mediators, and that the administration of Resolvin D2 not only prevents but also repairs the cardiovascular damage associated with hypertension.

"The effects of RvD2 are due to its beneficial effects on vasodilator mediators, decreased remodelling and fibrosis present in both the heart and vessels, reduced infiltration of immune system cells and reprogramming of immune and cardiovascular cells towards a reparative type," concludes Lucía Serrano Díaz del Campo, first author of the paper.

The work was carried out in collaboration with four CIBERCV groups at the UAM, the Hospital Ramón y Cajal, the Sant Pau Biomedical Research Institute, and the "Alberto Sols" Biomedical Research Institute, as well as with international collaborators from Queen Mary University of London.
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Bibliographic reference: Díaz Del Campo, L.S., García-Redondo, A.B., Rodríguez, C., Zaragoza, C., Duro-Sánchez, S., Palmas, F., de Benito-Bueno, A., Socuéllamos, P.G., Peraza, D.A., Rodrigues-Díez, R., Valenzuela, C., Dalli, J., Salaices, M., & Briones, A.M. (2023). Resolvin D2 Attenuates Cardiovascular Damage in Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertension. Hypertension, 80(1), 84-96. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.122.19448.

Image: Study reveals that in hypertension there is an imbalance in the production of proresolving mediators, and that Resolvin D2 administration not only prevents but also repairs the cardiovascular damage associated with high blood pressure/ Pixabay