Neurohormonal Modulation as a Therapeutic Target in Pulmonary Hypertension

Echinacoside inhibits PASMCs calcium overload to prevent hypoxic pulmonary artery remodeling by regulating TRPC1/4/6 and calmodulin

Abstract

Research indicates that hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (HPH) potentially stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which may increase norepinephrine (NE) release and cause excessive Ca2+ influx into pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), leading to calcium overload and abnormal PASMC proliferation, factors closely associated with pulmonary vascular remodeling (PVR). This study investigates the potential mechanisms underlying echinacoside (ECH) treatment in HPH.

Method

In the in vitro experiment, NE-induced PASMCs were used to simulate HPH-induced PASMCs' calcium overload and abnormal proliferation. Postincubation with ECH, [Ca2+]cyt changes were detected using Fluo-4 AM. Flow cytometry was employed to ascertain ECH's inhibitory effect on PASMCs proliferation. For in vivo experiments, rats were exposed to a hypoxic and low-pressure oxygen environment to establish the HPH model. Post-ECH treatment, hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was conducted to assess PVR, and western blot analysis was used to examine protein expression in the lung tissues of the different groups.

Results

ECH was observed to inhibit [Ca2+]cyt increase in NE-induced PASMCs in a concentration-dependent manner, effectively reducing abnormal cell proliferation. It also reduced the expression of Transient receptor potential channel (TRPC) 1 (TRPC1), TRPC4, TRPC6, and calmodulin in PASMCs. In vivo studies demonstrated that ECH lowered the expression of these proteins in lung tissues of HPH rats, significantly decreased mean pulmonary artery pressure, and mitigated PVR.

New Drugs and Therapies in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a chronic, progressive disorder of the pulmonary vasculature with associated pulmonary and cardiac remodeling. PAH was a uniformly fatal disease until the late 1970s, but with the advent of targeted therapies, the life expectancy of patients with PAH has now considerably improved. Despite these advances, PAH inevitably remains a progressive disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Thus, there is still an unmet need for the development of new drugs and other interventional therapies for the treatment of PAH. One shortcoming of currently approved vasodilator therapies is that they do not target or reverse the underlying pathogenesis of the disease process itself. A large body of evidence has evolved in the past two decades clarifying the role of genetics, dysregulation of growth factors, inflammatory pathways, mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA damage, sex hormones, neurohormonal pathways, and iron deficiency in the pathogenesis of PAH. This review focuses on newer targets and drugs that modify these pathways as well as novel interventional therapies in PAH.

Transcatheter radiofrequency pulmonary artery denervation in swine: the evaluation of lesion degree, hemodynamics and pulmonary hypertension inducibility

Background

Mechanisms of positive effects of pulmonary artery (PA) denervation (PADN) remain poorly understood. The study aimed to evaluate pulmonary hemodynamic changes after PADN and their association with the extent of PA wall damage in an acute thromboxane A2 (TXA2)-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) model in swine.

Methods

In this experimental sham-controlled study, 17 normotensive male white Landrace pigs (the mean weight 36.2 ± 4.5 kg) were included and randomly assigned to group I (n = 9)—PH modeling before and after PADN, group II (n = 4)—PADN only, or group III (n = 4)—PH modeling before and after a sham procedure. Radiofrequency (RF) PADN was performed in the PA trunk and at the proximal parts of the right and left PAs. PA wall lesions were characterized at the autopsy study using histological and the immunohistochemical examination.

Results

In groups I and II, no statistically significant changes in the mean pulmonary arterial pressure nor systemic blood pressure were found after PADN (−0.8 ± 3.4 vs 4.3 ± 8.6 mmHg, P = 0.47; and 6.0 ± 15.9 vs -8.3 ± 7.5 mmHg, P = 0.1; correspondingly). There was a trend towards a lower diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure after PADN in group I when compared with group III during repeat PH induction (34.4 ± 2.9 vs 38.0 ± 0.8; P = 0.06). Despite the presence of severe PA wall damage at the RF application sites, S100 expression was preserved in the majority of PA specimens. The presence of high-grade PA lesions was associated with HR acceleration after PADN (ρ = 0.68, p = 0.03). No significant correlation was found between the grade of PA lesion severity and PA pressure after PADN with or without PH induction.

Conclusions

Extended PADN does not affect PH induction using TXA2. Significant PA adventitia damage is associated with HR acceleration after PADN. Possible delayed effects of PADN on perivascular nerves and pulmonary hemodynamics require further research in chronic experiments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12890-021-01786-y.

Autonomic dysfunction in SARS-COV-2 infection acute and long-term implications COVID-19 editor's page series

Abstract

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a complex network of nerves originating in the brain, brain stem, spinal cord, heart and extracardiac organs that regulates neural and physiological responses to internal and external environments and conditions. A common observation among patients with the 2019 Coronavirus (CoV) (SARS-severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2) (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 [CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019)] in the acute and chronic phases of the disease is tachycardia, labile blood pressure, muscular fatigue and shortness of breath. Because abnormalities in the ANS can contribute to each of these symptoms, herein a review of autonomic dysfunction in SARS-COV-2 infection is provided to guide diagnostic testing, patient care and research initiatives.

Graphic abstract

The autonomic nervous system is a complex network of nerves originating in the brain, brain stem, spinal cord, heart and extracardiac organs that regulates neural and physiological responses to internal and external environments and conditions. A common collection of signs and symptoms among patients with the 2019 Coronavirus (CoV) (SARS-severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2) (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 [CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019)] is tachycardia, labile blood pressure, muscular fatigue and shortness of breath. Abnormalities in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) can contribute to each of these identifiers, potentially offering a unifying pathobiology for acute, subacute and the long-term sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) and a target for intervention.

Neurohormonal modulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is a fatal condition of elevated pulmonary pressures, complicated by right heart failure. Pulmonary hypertension appears in various forms; one of those is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and is particularly characterised by progressive remodelling and obstruction of the smaller pulmonary vessels. Neurohormonal imbalance in PAH patients is associated with worse prognosis and survival. In this back-to-basics article on neurohormonal modulation in PAH, we provide an overview of the pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies that have been tested pre-clinically and clinically. The benefit of neurohormonal modulation strategies in PAH patients has been limited by lack of insight into how the neurohormonal system is changed throughout the disease and difficulties in translation from animal models to human trials. We propose that longitudinal and individual assessments of neurohormonal status are required to improve the timing and specificity of neurohormonal modulation strategies. Ongoing developments in imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography may become helpful to determine neurohormonal status in PAH patients in different disease stages and optimise individual treatment responses.