Impact of inflammation on vascular disease in hypertension

Low grade inflammation exerts a crucial pathogenic role in hypertension and cardiovascular disease. A large body of evidence indicates that innate and adaptive immune systems, and in particular T cells, are involved. A balance between T-effector lymphocytes and T-reg lymphocytes represents a crucial regulatory mechanism that, when altered, favours blood pressure elevation and organ damage development. Of note, T-reg lymphocytes exert important anti-inflammatory properties, whose activities guarantees vascular homeostasis and protects the vessel wall from the development of atherosclerosis. In humans, most of evidence ascertaining essential hypertension as a condition of chronic low-grade inflammatory status revealed a strict and independent association between CRP, TNF-alpha, IL-6 or adhesion molecules and vascular changes in essential hypertensive patients. Evidence of involvement of the immune system in vasculature from patients with hypertension or cardiovascular disease starts to appear in literature. Further investigation on immunity, including the role of T-lymphocytes, will help develop of new therapeutic targets that may improve outcomes in hypertension and cardiovascular disease and discover novel approaches in the treatment of hypertension and vascular disease. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.