How does inflammation contribute to pulmonary hypertension?

Pathogenic drivers of the pulmonary vascular disease that results in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are currently unclear, but there are many reasons to suspect that inflammation is a major contributor. Clinically, PAH is a complication of multiple autoimmune diseases including scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus, suggesting dysregulated immunity can trigger the vascular disease [1–3]. PAH can also complicate several infectious diseases, including HIV and schistosomiasis, suggesting there could be off-target effects of immune upregulation which inadvertently damage the pulmonary vasculature. Patients with these pro-inflammatory aetiologies often have systemic vascular diseases, including digital ischaemia in scleroderma and portal hypertension in schistosomiasis [4, 5], suggesting the same inflammatory stimuli can lead to diverse vascular pathologies.
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Pulmonary vascular disease Editorials Source Type: research