• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

CNIC researchers explain how high blood pressure, the most important cause of disease worldwide, acc

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
April 12, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

The new insight supports the need to keep both LDL cholesterol and blood pressure low throughout life by healthy diet choices, weight control, exercise, and, when needed, by drug therapy

IMAGE

Credit: CNIC

High blood pressure, the most important cause of disease worldwide, accelerates atherosclerosis but the mechanism is unknown. Using gene modified minipigs, researchers from the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) and Aarhus University (Denmark), demonstrate that high blood pressure alters the structure of arteries leading to more accumulation of LDL cholesterol and faster development of atherosclerosis. The study has been published in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).

Blood pressure-lowering drugs are routinely used to prevent the development of atherosclerosis and heart disease, but the mechanism of this effect is still unknown. People suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension) often have accompanying changes in the hormones that control blood pressure and it has been unclear whether the pressure itself or the hormonal changes are the driver of accelerated atherosclerosis.

To investigate this, researchers from the CNIC and Aarhus University analyzed the development of atherosclerosis in minipigs that were genetically engineered to have high blood cholesterol and develop atherosclerosis.

Minipigs have arteries that are very similar in structure to human arteries and like humans they develop atherosclerosis in the heart when exposed to high blood cholesterol, Dr. Jacob Fog Bentzon comments, coordinator of the study published in JACC. As is also the case in humans, the development of the early stages of the disease is asymptomatic and therefore experiments on atherosclerosis can be conducted in minipigs with high animal welfare.

By manipulating blood pressure in the pigs and by analyzing the effects on arteries in the heart, the researchers found that the direct forces of pressure on arteries leads to structural changes that facilitate the development of atherosclerosis. “Arteries become denser and allow less passage of molecules from the blood. This includes the LDL particles that carry blood cholesterol, which instead accumulate in the innermost layer of arteries, where they drive the development of atherosclerosis”, Dr. Jacob Fog Bentzon explains.

This finding uncovers an intimate relationship between the most important risk factors for atherosclerosis, LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure. While it has been known for decades that accumulation of LDL particles in arteries lead to atherosclerosis, the new research shows that high blood pressure accelerates the accumulation of LDL. Therefore, high blood pressure aggravates the effect of having high LDL cholesterol in the blood.

The new insight supports the need to keep both LDL cholesterol and blood pressure low throughout life by healthy diet choices, weight control, exercise, and, when needed, by drug therapy. “It could also pave the way for the development of more effective therapies to offset the detrimental effects of hypertension on atherosclerosis”, the researchers conclude.

###

The research was a collaboration among the Experimental Pathology of Atherosclerosis at CNIC, the Cardiovascular Proteomics groups at CNIC, CIBER de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, and the Atherosclerosis Research Unit at Aarhus University in Denmark.

Media Contact
Fátima Lois
[email protected]

Original Source

https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.059

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2020.11.059

Tags: CardiologyMedicine/Health
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Unraveling EMT’s Role in Colorectal Cancer Spread

August 2, 2025
Gut γδ T17 Cells Drive Brain Inflammation via STING

Gut γδ T17 Cells Drive Brain Inflammation via STING

August 2, 2025

Agent-Based Framework for Assessing Environmental Exposures

August 2, 2025

MARCO Drives Myeloid Suppressor Cell Differentiation, Immunity

August 2, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Unraveling EMT’s Role in Colorectal Cancer Spread

Gut γδ T17 Cells Drive Brain Inflammation via STING

Agent-Based Framework for Assessing Environmental Exposures

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.