Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Apr;16(4):424.
doi: 10.1007/s11906-014-0424-1.

Autoimmunity: an underlying factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension

Keisa W Mathis  1 , Hanna J Broome, Michael J Ryan
Affiliations
Review

Autoimmunity: an underlying factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension

Keisa W Mathis et al. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2014 Apr.

Abstract

One in every three adults in the United States has hypertension, and the underlying cause of most of these cases is unknown. Therefore, it is imperative to continue the study of mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. Decades ago, studies speculated that elements of an autoimmune response were associated with the development of hypertension based, in part, on the presence of circulating autoantibodies in hypertensive patients. In the past decade, a growing number of studies have been published supporting the concept that self-antigens and the subsequent activation of the adaptive immune system promote the development of hypertension. This manuscript will provide a brief review of the evidence supporting a role for the immune system in the development of hypertension, studies that implicate both cell-mediated and humoral immunity, and the relevance of understanding blood pressure control in an autoimmune disease model with hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Hanna J. Broome declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Keisa W. Mathis has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health NRSA (F32).

Michael J. Ryan has received a grant from the American Heart Association and the Veterans Affairs Merit Award.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Strickler C. Significance of hypertension. South Med J. 1917;10:191–194.
    1. Freis E. Hypertension, Pathophysiology Diagnosis and Management. Hypertension, Pathophysiology Diagnosis and Management. (2 ed.) 1995:2741–2751.
    1. Staessen J, Wang J, Bianchi G, Birkenhager W. Essential hypertension. Lancet. 2003;361:1629–1641. - PubMed
    1. Chobanian A. Shattuck Lecture: The hypertension paradox-more uncontrolled disease despite improved therapy. New England Journal of Medicine. 2009;361:878–887. - PubMed
    1. Lloyd-Jones D, Adams R, Brown T, Carnethon M, Dai S, De S, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics--2010 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2010;121(e46):e215. - PubMed

Publication types