Blood pressure on the brain: Scientists pinpoint nerve cluster as key player in regulating blood pressure
January 25, 2023
A recent study led by Dr. John Collister found that the median preoptic nucleus (MnPO), a cluster of nerves in the hypothalamus, helps direct the body’s blood pressure. Deciphering which parts of the brain regulate the body’s blood pressure could help scientists pin down more effective, lasting treatments for this widespread issue.
According to the CDC, nearly half of the adults in the United States have high blood pressure, which is a major contributing factor to life-threatening health conditions like heart attack and stroke. In previous research, this scientific team showed a relationship between the MnPO and hypertension. But until now, an understanding of just how important the MnPO is to regulating blood pressure remained unclear.
In this study, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the team used a rat model to test whether MnPO neurons were necessary for regulating blood pressure levels. The scientists divided 14 rats into a control group and a MnPOx group whose MnPO was not functional. The team gathered baseline blood pressure levels from all the rats. The researchers then simulated hypertension in all the rats by giving them a high-salt diet and a human hormone that raises blood pressure.
By day seven, blood pressure responses appeared to plateau in both groups of rats. However, the hypertensive response was markedly lower in MnPOx rats. These results confirm what an emerging body of work was suggesting: that the MnPO’s plays a vital role in the body’s blood pressure response in this model of hypertension.
“We are now investigating whether there is a brain sympathetic nervous system and gut microbiome relationship involved in the development or maintenance of hypertension,” Collister says. The researchers hope to investigate whether changes in the gut microbiome influence the blood pressure in animals with and without an impaired MnPO. “In this way, we may be able to target future antibiotic and pro or prebiotic treatments for hypertension.”
Find the full article in Physiological Reports.
