Novel avenues to control blood pressure: targeting the renal lymphatic system.

Abstract

Hypertension is associated with the activation of the immune and lymphatic systems as well as lymphangiogenesis. The changes in the lymphatic system are considered an adaptive response to mitigate the deleterious effects of immune and inflammatory cells on the cardiovascular system. In the article recently published in Clinical Science by Goodlett and collaborators, evidence is shown that inducing renal lymphangiogenesis after the establishment of hypertension in mice is an effective maneuver to reduce systemic arterial blood pressure. In this commentary, we will briefly review what is known about the relationship between the activation of the immune and lymphatic systems, and the resulting effects on systemic blood pressure, summarize the findings published by Goodlett and collaborators, and discuss the impact of their findings on the field.