Prostaglandin-Mediated Pathway a Factor in Blood Pressure Control

Cardiovascular disease researchers have traced a prostaglandin-based metabolic pathway that modulates blood pressure by complementing the classic RAAS (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) pathway.

Investigators from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (Philadelphia, USA) used advanced genetic engineering techniques to create lines of mice lacking the genes for either the cellular receptors of prostaglandin F2-alpha, receptors of low density-lipoproteins (LDL), or for both types of receptors.

The researchers reported in the April 24, 2009, online edition of the Proceedings of the [U.S.] National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that blood pressure was reduced in both types of genetically engineered mice lacking prostaglandin F2-alpha receptors relative to normal control animals. The RAAS molecules renin, angiotensin I, and aldosterone were also reduced, a metabolic state of affairs leading to lower blood pressure. Furthermore, atherogenesis was retarded by deletion of FP2-alpha receptors.

"Blocking this prostaglandin receptor may provide a strategy for controlling blood pressure and its attendant vascular disease," said senior author Dr. Garret A. FitzGerald, professor of translational medicine and therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania. "The picture is emerging that PG F2-alpha controls blood pressure by a mechanism unique among the prostaglandins."

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