Council For High Blood Pressure Research Research Articles

Innovative Anti-Inflammatory and Pro-resolving Strategies for Pulmonary Hypertension: High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Award 2019.

Pulmonary hypertension is a rare, ostensibly incurable, and etiologically diverse disease with an unacceptably high 5-year mortality rate (≈50%), worse than many cancers. Irrespective of pathogenic origin, dysregulated immune processes underlie pulmonary hypertension pathobiology, particularly pertaining to pulmonary vascular remodeling. As such, a variety of proinflammatory pathways have been mooted as novel therapeutic targets. One such pathway involves the family of innate immune regulators known as inflammasomes. In addition, a new and emerging concept is differentiating between anti-inflammatory approaches versus those that promote pro-resolving pathways. This review will briefly introduce inflammasomes and examine recent literature concerning their role in pulmonary hypertension. Moreover, it will explore the difference between inflammation-suppressing and pro-resolution approaches and how this links to inflammasomes. Finally, we will investigate new avenues for targeting inflammation in pulmonary hypertension via more targeted anti-inflammatory or inflammation resolving strategies.

Cardiovascular disease and COVID-19: Australian and New Zealand consensus statement.

The coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) increases the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19, and COVID-19 itself causes serious cardiac sequelae. Strategies to minimise the risk of viral transmission to health care workers and uninfected cardiac patients while prioritising high quality cardiac care are urgently needed. We conducted a rapid literature appraisal and review of key documents identified by the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Board and Council members, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, and key cardiology, surgical and public health opinion leaders. Common acute cardiac manifestations of COVID-19 include left ventricular dysfunction, heart failure, arrhythmias and acute coronary syndromes. The presence of underlying CVD confers a five- to tenfold higher case fatality rate with COVID-19 disease. Special precautions are needed to avoid viral transmission to this population at risk. Adaptive health care delivery models and resource allocation are required throughout the health care system to address this need. Cardiovascular health services and cardiovascular health care providers need to recognise the increased risk of COVID-19 among CVD patients, upskill in the management of COVID-19 cardiac manifestations, and reorganise and innovate in service delivery models to meet demands. This consensus statement, endorsed by the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia summarises important issues and proposes practical approaches to cardiovascular health care delivery to patients with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and cardiovascular disease.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers and cardiovascular disease.

Impact, Strategies, and Opportunities for Early and Midcareer Cardiovascular Researchers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Impact, Strategies, and Opportunities for Early and Midcareer Cardiovascular Researchers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Chemoattraction of Immune Cells into the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus Elicits Sympathetically‐Mediated Blood Pressure Elevations in Hypertension

Chemokine C‐C motif ligand 2 (CCL2) is a chemotactic cytokine, known for its ability to recruit and activate immune cells. Recently, immune cells have been shown to be active within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) of a rodent model of hypertension. Interestingly, the chemokine, CCL2, was increased by 3‐fold in the PVN in many experimental models of hypertension, and the plasma levels of CCL2 appear to correlate with increased blood pressure in hypertensive patients. However, the underlying neural and molecular mechanisms leading to the development of hypertension still remain unknown. Thus, we hypothesised that CCL2 elicits sympathetically mediated blood pressure (BP) elevations through the recruitment of immune cells into the PVN. Here, we show, in anaesthetised Sprague‐Dawley rats, activation of receptors for CCL2 (i.e. CCR2), in the PVN, recruits immune cells that infiltrate into the PVN from the peripheral circulation, eliciting dose‐dependent elevations in blood pressure and renal sympathetic nerve activity. Further, our results in conscious freely moving rats show that microinjection of CCL2 into the PVN, increased blood pressure by approximately 12±2 mmHg, and this increase lasted for 50 minutes. In renovascular hypertensive rats (2 kidney ‐ 1 clip), plasma and cerebrospinal fluid levels of CCL2 were elevated with the onset occurring in the first week, prior to the development of hypertension. Immune cell infiltration into the PVN was also evident by the second week, when animals were still pre‐hypertensive. Importantly, we show that continuous infusion of the CCR2 antagonist RS‐102895 into the lateral ventricles of renovascular hypertensive rats, attenuated the increase in blood pressure over a period of two months.These results suggest that upregulation of CCL2 and immune cell infiltration into the PVN precede the sustained increases in sympathetic activity and blood pressure observed in renovascular hypertension. These findings highlight CCL2‐CCR2 signalling and immune cells as new therapeutic targets for treating hypertension. Interestingly, these findings also suggest a specific interaction between the autonomic nervous system and the immune system in the regulation of sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (GNT 1079680 to STY), the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia, the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Foundation, the Wade Institute and Ormond College ‐ University of Melbourne (to WSK) and the Victorian Government through the Operational Infrastructure Scheme. KE and AS are supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships. STY is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT170100363).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

In Renovascular Hypertension, TNF‐α Type‐1 Receptors in the Area Postrema Mediate Increases in Cardiac and Renal Sympathetic Nerve Activity and Blood Pressure

Neuroinflammation is a common feature in renovascular, obesity-related, and angiotensin II mediated hypertension. There is evidence that increased release of the pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) contributes to the development of the hypertension, but the underlying neural mechanisms are unclear. In rats with renovascular hypertension, area postrema neurons that expressed TNF-α type-1 receptor (TNFR1) remained constantly activated (expressed c-Fos) and injection of TNFR1 neutralizing antibody into the area postrema returned blood pressure (systolic: ~151 mmHg) to normotensive levels (systolic: ~108 mmHg). Nanoinjection of TNF-α (100 pg/50 nl) into the area postrema of anaesthetized normotensive rats increased blood pressure (~16 mmHg) and sympathetic nerve activity, predominantly to the heart (~53%), but also to the kidneys (~35%). These responses were abolished by prior injection of a TNFR1 neutralizing antibody (1 ng/50 nl) within the same site. TNFR1 were expressed in the somata of neurons activated by TNF-α that were retrogradely labelled from the rostral ventrolateral medulla. These findings indicate that in renovascular hypertension, activation of TNFR1 expressing neurons in the area postrema by TNF-α contributes to the sustained blood pressure in rats. This is mediated, in part, by projections to the rostral ventrolateral medulla and an increase in both cardiac and renal sympathetic nerve activity. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (GNT 1079680 to STY), the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia, the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Foundation, the Wade Institute and Ormond College - University of Melbourne (to WSK) and the Victorian Government through the Operational Infrastructure Scheme. KE and AS are supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships. STY is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT170100363). Effects of injection of TNF-α into the AP on cardiac and renal sympathetic nerve activity. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

NOVEL ROLE OF GLYCINE IN CONTROL OF SYMPATHETIC OUTFLOW

The arterial baroreflex is one of the essential negative‐feedback mechanisms that compensates rapid changes in blood pressure (BP) through inhibition of presympathetic neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). There is general consensus that GABAergic projections originating from the caudal VLM (CVLM) provide the primary inhibitory input that controls the excitability of presympathetic RVLM neurons and sympathetic output. However, glycine, another inhibitory neurotransmitter, is also present in the RVLM. In anesthetized rats, we found that RVLM glycine played a critical role in arterial baroreflex function by controlling the time course of baroreflex mediated inhibition of renal sympathetic nerve activity. Blockade of glycine receptors in the RVLM, following an increase in BP, increased recovery of renal sympathetic nerve activity to baseline levels (5.1 ± 1.0 vs 11.7 ± 1.3 min, N=6, P<0.01) in comparison to control. In addition, tonic glycinergic inhibition of the RVLM was unmasked following blockade of output from the nucleus tractus solitaries and/or during disinhibition of the CVLM. Our whole‐cell, patch‐clamp recordings were obtained from brainstem slices containing presympathetic neurons in the RVLM labeled with PRV‐152. We confirmed that in steady state conditions GABAergic inhibition of RVLM neurons predominated and glycine contributed less than 25% of overall inhibition. In contrast, activation of the network produced saturation of GABAergic inhibition and glycinergic inhibition became prominent. Our findings demonstrated that blockade of glycine receptors in the RVLM decreased duration of baroreflex sympathoinhibition; increase of BP and activation of the network unmasked glycinergic inhibition of the RVLM; and release of glycine in the RVLM depended on the activity of presynaptic inhibitory inputs.Support or Funding InformationNational Institutes of Health R01 HL98602 (Cheryl M. Heesch) and HL122829 (Andrei V. Derbenev). Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT170100363 and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia GNT 1079680 (Song T. Yao). High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia, the Rebecca L Cooper Medical Foundation, and the Victorian Government through the Operational Infrastructure Scheme (Willian S. Korim).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Spontaneous cerebral haemorrhage in a young weight lifter: A case report and a review of current literature

1. Broderick J, Connolly S, Feldmann E, et al. Guidelines for the management of spontaneous intracerebralhemorrhage in adults: 2007 update: a guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Council, High Blood Pressure Research Council, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes in Research Interdisciplinary Working Group. Circulation. 2007;116(16):e391–e413. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCUL.... CrossRef Google Scholar

Abstracts From the 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

Abstracts From the 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

Abstracts From the 31 st Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

Abstracts From the 31 ^st Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

2010 Annual Fall Conference and Scientific Session of the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Research in Association With the Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease

The American Heart Association (AHA) High Blood Pressure Research Conference is considered to be among the most important and prestigious medical meetings on hypertension in the world, designed as a scientific program that focuses on disseminating information about recent advances in hypertension research. This program provides an opportunity and platform for learning, interacting, and networking among scientists, clinicians, and allied health care workers. The 2009 meeting was an enormous success, with a record number of 749 registrants from more than 20 countries. The program committee and council chairs, Clinton Webb (high blood pressure research) and Jeff Sands (kidney in cardiovascular disease), are to be applauded. The council meeting was preceded by a 1-day workshop titled, “Systems Medicine Strategies in Hypertension: From Molecules to Patients,” and focused on state-of-the-art technologies and approaches to better understand molecular and physiological mechanisms of hypertension in experimental and clinical settings. The workshop, organized by Ernesto L. Schiffrin (McGill University), Thomas M. Coffman (Duke University), and Anna F. Dominiczak (University of Glasgow), attracted more than 250 registrants and was the largest ever at a Council for High Blood Pressure Research (CHBPR) meeting. World-renowned investigators led the workshop with presentations and discussions. The workshop concluded with a presentation given by Daniel Levy (Framingham, MA), who linked all of the topics of the workshop through his talk titled, “Genes, Molecules, Systems Biology, and Epidemiology: Bringing It Together Through Framingham.” This was a perfect foundation to start the official council meeting. The scientific program of the conference was abstract based and included more than 400 reviewed abstracts presented in oral and poster sessions. In addition, numerous named award lectures were given by the most outstanding investigators in the hypertension community. The objectives of the meeting were certainly met, and by the end of the 1.0-day workshop and 2.5-day conference, …

Abstracts From the 30 th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

Abstracts From the 30 ^th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia

The 62nd Annual Fall Conference and Scientific Session of the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Research in Association With the Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease

This supplemental issue of Hypertension contains selected articles based on presentations at the 62nd Annual Fall Conference and Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Research (CHBPR), held September 17 to 20, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting was cosponsored by the Council on Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease (CKCD). The conference was a huge success, with attendees from around the world. The program committee and Drs Gabriel Navar, Chair of the CHBPR, and Jeff Sands, Chair of CKCD, are to be congratulated. The council meeting was preceded by a workshop on “Novel Signaling Paradigms in Vascular and Renal Disease.” Drs Nancy Kanagy and Mathias Barton organized the workshop, and more than 250 individuals attended. The workshop ended with a presentation by Dr Paul Vanhoutte titled, “The Past, Present and Future of Signaling in the Vascular Wall.” Dr Vanhoutte’s talk also opened the fall conference. There were 727 registered attendees at the main council meeting, and 423 abstracts were selected for presentation as oral and poster communications. In addition to the free communications, presentations by award recipients contributed to an excellent meeting. The awards presented at the meeting recognized outstanding achievement in hypertension research. The premier award of the CHBPR, given to investigators who have made outstanding discoveries in hypertension research, is the Novartis Award for Hypertension Research. The recipients of the 2008 Novartis Award were Drs Mordecai P. Blaustein, John W. Funder, and J. Carlos Romero (Figure 1). Dr Blaustein, Professor of Physiology and Medicine at the University of Maryland, was honored for his pioneering discoveries on the sodium-calcium exchanger and its role in the increased vascular tone characteristic of hypertension. Dr Funder, Professor of Medicine at Monash University and Senior Fellow at Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, was honored for his seminal studies …

Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting

Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting

Is Craniotomy for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Treated Properly in the Latest AHA Guideline?

HomeStrokeVol. 39, No. 4Is Craniotomy for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Treated Properly in the Latest AHA Guideline? Free AccessLetterPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessLetterPDF/EPUBIs Craniotomy for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Treated Properly in the Latest AHA Guideline? Eiharu Morikawa Eiharu MorikawaEiharu Morikawa Section of Cerebrovascular Surgery, Stroke Center, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, Hidakashi, Saitama, Japan Search for more papers by this author Originally published28 Feb 2008https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.503623Stroke. 2008;39:e69Other version(s) of this articleYou are viewing the most recent version of this article. Previous versions: February 28, 2008: Previous Version 1 To the Editor:Beneficial effects of the surgical intervention, especially craniotomy, for the treatment of patients with putaminal hemorrhage, is inconclusive. In the recent issue of Stroke,1 guidelines for the treatment of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage were presented. Craniotomy for the supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage was placed Class III, not beneficial, except for the superficial lobar hemorrhage.Such a recommendation must be drawn from the results of the international STICH study,2 in which early surgical intervention yielded only marginal insignificant benefit in mortality and morbidity over initial conservative treatment. It should be noted, however, that one fourth of the initial conservative treatment group eventually had surgery within 99 hours of ictus. Initial conservative treatment policy therefore maintained just the equal levels of outcome as early surgical intervention policy, only when surgical intervention with an average time lag of 30 hours was added in a significant number of the cases.From this point of view, placement of craniotomy for the intracerebral hemorrhage in Class III category is misguiding for the physicians treating stroke patients and also for the families of the stroke patients.DisclosuresNone.1 Broderick J, Connolly S, Feldmann E, Hanley D, Kase C, Krieger D, Mayberg M, Morgenstern L, Ogilvy C, Vespa P, Zuccarello M. Guidelines for the Management of Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Adults. 2007 Update. Guideline From the Am Heart Association/Am Stroke Association Stroke Council, High Blood Pressure Research Council, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes in Research Interdisciplinary Working Group. Stroke. 2007; 38: 2001–2023.LinkGoogle Scholar2 Mendelow AD, Gregson BA, Fernandes HM, Murray GD, Teasdale GM, Hope DT, Karimi A, Shaw MD, Barer DH. Early surgery versus initial conservative treatment in patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haematomas in the International Surgical Trial in Intracerebral Haemorrhage (STICH): a randomised trial. The Lancet. 2005; 365: 387–397.CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails April 2008Vol 39, Issue 4 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.503623PMID: 18309147 Originally publishedFebruary 28, 2008 PDF download Advertisement

Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting

HomeHypertensionVol. 49, No. 6Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting Free AccessAbstractAboutSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessAbstractProceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting Originally published1 Jun 2007https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.009421Hypertension. 2007;49:1462–1481"Proceedings of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting." Hypertension, 49(6), pp. 1462–1481 Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails June 2007Vol 49, Issue 6 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.009421 Originally publishedJune 1, 2007 Advertisement

Abstracts of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.

Abstracts of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.

Aortic Diameter, Aortic Stiffness, and Wave Reflection Increase With Age and Isolated Systolic Hypertension

The October 2004 High Blood Pressure Research Council meeting of the American Heart Association included a debate on the proposition that “aortic diameter, aortic stiffness, and wave reflection all increase with age and in isolated systolic hypertension.” This was stimulated by a series of articles1–5 that took a contrary position to change in aortic diameter and wave reflection and placed emphasis on aortic stiffness over wave reflection with aging and isolated systolic hypertension. The purpose of this review is to summarize the conventional view that has evolved over decades6–12 but is not precisely argued in recent literature. According to this view, early wave reflection from peripheral arteries is the dominant ill effect of aging and the most logical target for therapy.12–14 “Premature arterial senility” as a cardiovascular risk factor has long been of intense interest in actuarial studies, even before introduction of the cuff sphygmomanometer,6 as it had been in clinical medicine. The latter is apparent in the textbooks of Osler and Mackenzie >100 years ago.7,8 In these, premature arteriosclerotic change was assessed from the pulse waveform palpated at the wrist or measured from the radial artery by sphygmography. The first graphic recording studies of the arterial pulse by Marey in 18639 noted characteristic differences between young and old persons (Figure 1), with prominent late systolic augmentation (“tidal wave”) in the latter. Mahomed10,11 confirmed these changes in the 1870s, stressing that “the tidal wave is prolonged and too much sustained,” and noting similar pulse waveform changes in asymptomatic persons with elevated arterial pressure as well as in the elderly. By 1900, these findings were used by life insurance companies to decline applicants on the basis of premature arterial senility.6 Figure 1. Tracings from Marey’s original publication on the sphygmogram.9 Top, The …

Abstracts of the 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.

Abstracts of the 24th Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.

Abstracts of the 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.

Abstracts of the 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia Inc.