Mechanisms of Disease: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Ralph T
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REVIEWS Mechanisms of disease: pulmonary arterial hypertension Ralph T. Schermuly, Hossein A. Ghofrani, Martin R. Wilkins and Friedrich Grimminger Abstract | Our understanding of, and approach to, pulmonary arterial hypertension has undergone a paradigm shift in the past decade. Once a condition thought to be dominated by increased vasoconstrictor tone and thrombosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension is now seen as a vasculopathy in which structural changes driven by excessive vascular cell growth and inflammation, with recruitment and infiltration of circulating cells, play a major role. Perturbations of a number of molecular mechanisms have been described, including pathways involving growth factors, cytokines, metabolic signaling, elastases, and proteases, that may underlie the pathogenesis of the disease. Elucidating their contribution to the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension could offer new drug targets. The role of progenitor cells in vascular repair is also under active investigation. The right ventricular response to increased pressure load is recognized as critical to survival and the molecular mechanisms involved are attracting increasing interest. The challenge now is to integrate this new knowledge and explore how it can be used to categorize patients by molecular phenotype and tailor treatment more effectively. Schermuly, R. T. et al. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 8, 443–455 (2011); published online 21 June 2011; doi:10.1038/nrcardio.2011.87 Introduction Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive disease of various receptor superfamily and, more rarely, in activin receptor- origins that is associated with a poor prognosis and results like kinase type 1 (ALK-1; also called ACVRL1) have been in right heart dysfunction. In all its variant presentations, identified as underlying mechanisms. Drug-induced and this disease is estimated to affect up to 100 million people toxin-induced forms of PAH are included in group 1.3, and worldwide.1 According to the current classification of group 1.4 comprises PAH associated with identified diseases pulmo nary hypertension, which was agreed upon at the (for example, HIV and schistosomiasis infections). Persistent 4th World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension in pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is included in 2008, five categories of chronic pulmonary hypertension group 1.5, and patients with pulmonary veno-occlusive exist (Box 1).2 disease and/or pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis are In this Review, we focus on molecular mechanisms classified as being in group 1'.1,3–5 involved in the pathogenesis of group 1, pulmonary arterial In this article, we highlight findings from patients with Max-Planck-Institute hypertension (PAH), which includes a variety of diseases PAH. However, we also discuss preclinical data from a for Heart and Lung that share several pathophysiological, histological, and number of animal models of pulmonary hypertension. Research, prognostic features. Although rare, idiopathic PAH (IPAH; Notably, although the existing animal models inform on Parkstrasse 1, 61231 Bad Nauheim, group 1.1) defines the group and is a disease in which there certain aspects of PAH, no animal model of pulmonary Germany is neither a family history of, nor an identified risk factor for, hypertension recapitulates the human condition. For (R. T. Schermuly). University Hospital PAH. In heritable PAH (group 1.2; formerly known as famil- example, mice exposed to hypoxia develop pulmonary Giessen and Marburg, ial PAH), loss-of-function mutations in the transforming hypertension and are widely used as a disease model, but University of Giessen growth factor β/bone morphogenetic protein (TGF-β/BMP) although they display certain features in common with Lung Center, Klinikstrasse 36, PAH, they are more closely related to group 3 pulmonary 35392 Giessen, Competing interests hypertension. Rats treated with the toxin monocrotaline, Germany R. T. Schermuly declares associations with Actelion, Bayer another frequently used model of pulmonary hypertension, (H. A. Ghofrani, Healthcare, Ergonex, Excellence Cluster Cardiopulmonary F. Grimminger). Centre may exhibit direct damage to the liver, kidneys, and heart, for Pharmacology and System, German Research Foundation, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, in addition to the pulmonary vasculature. For an in-depth Therapeutics, Division Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, and the University of Experimental of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center. H. A. Ghofrani declares discussion of the merits and limitations of the different Medicine, Imperial associations with Bayer Healthcare, Ergonex, Excellence Cluster animal models of pulmonary hypertension and their rele- College London, Cardiopulmonary System, German Research Foundation, Hammersmith Hospital, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, and the University of Giessen vance to human PAH, the reader is referred to an article by Du Cane Road, 6 and Marburg Lung Center. M. R. Wilkins declares associations Stenmark et al. London W12 0NN, UK with Bayer Healthcare, Biomarin, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer. (M. R. Wilkins). F. Grimminger declares associations with Actelion, Bayer Pathways of disease Correspondence to: Healthcare, Encysive, Excellence Cluster Cardiopulmonary The subcategories of PAH differ in their under lying causes. R. T. Schermuly System, German Research Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, ralph.schermuly@ Novartis, Parexel International GmbH, Pfizer, and the University However, all are characterized by excessive pulmonary innere.med. of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center. vasoconstriction and abnormal vascular remodeling uni-giessen.de NATURE REVIEWS | CARDIOLOGY VOLUME 8 | AUGUST 2011 | 443 © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved REVIEWS 9 Key points unique plexiform lesions. Vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation is a prominent feature of PAH. These ■ Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive disease of various origins, which has a poor prognosis and affects, in its different forms, more than 100 million structural changes suggest a switch from a quiescent state people worldwide to a proliferative, apoptosis-resistant cellular phenotype. Lung vascular remodeling can be associated with chronic ■ Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is now considered to be a vasculopathy in which structural changes driven by excessive vascular cell growth and inflammatory events and recruitment of progenitor cell inflammation have a major role types, which might fuel proliferative changes (for example, ■ A number of proproliferative signaling pathways involving growth factors, in circulating fibrocytes and mesenchymal progenitor 10 cytokines, metabolic signaling, and elastases and proteases have been cells) or which might have an antiproliferative effect identified in the pathophysiology of PAH and thus offer a prospective therapeutic intervention (for 11 ■ Clinical studies with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, serotonin antagonists, and example, endothelial progenitor cells). soluble guanylate cyclase stimulators are underway in patients with PAH ■ The benefits of progenitor cells for vascular repair in PAH are under active Imbalance in vasoactive mediators investigation In patients with PAH, the generation of vasodilatory medi- 12,13 ■ The right ventricular response to increased pressure load is recognized as ators, in particular prostaglandin I2, is reduced. Reduced critical to survival in patients with PAH, and strategies for preserving myocardial levels of the vasodilatory and antiproliferative nitric oxide function are increasingly attracting interest (NO; generated via NO synthases), and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (the second messenger downstream of NO) are also well described in pulmonary vascular disease, Box 1 | Current classification of pulmonary hypertension including PAH.14,15 Increased levels of asymmetric dimethyl- As agreed at the 4th World Symposium on Pulmonary arginine (an endogenous inhibitor of NO synthase) might Hypertension in Dana Point, CA, USA, in 2008, pulmonary also have a functional role in PAH (Figure 2).16,17 hypertension is now classified into five groups:5 In addition to reduced generation of vasodilatory Group 1—Pulmonary arterial hypertension medi ators in patients with PAH, levels of the potent vaso constrictors thromboxane and endothelin 1 are ■ Group 1.1—Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension increased.12,13 Moreover, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) Group 1.2—Heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension ■ causes vasoconstriction, and abnormalities in endothelial (formerly known as familial pulmonary arterial hypertension) cell–SMC cross-talk have been observed in humans with IPAH and a mouse model of hypoxia-induced pulmonary ■ Group 1.3—Drug-induced and toxin-induced forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension hypertension, with enhanced endothelial 5-HT production, transport, and paracrine activity in adjacent pulmonary ■ Group 1.4—Pulmonary arterial hypertension 18,19 associated with identified diseases (for example, HIV vascular SMCs. Certain forms of drug-induced or toxin- and schistosomiasis infections) induced PAH (group 1.3) also involve the 5-HT pathway. Fenfluramine and aminorex, anorexigenic drugs associ- ■ Group 1.5—Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn ated with an increased risk of PAH, are both 5-HT trans- porter substrates and increase extracellular concentrations Group 1'—Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and/or of 5-HT.20 pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis Abnormalities in both K+ channels and Ca2+ channels Group 2—Pulmonary hypertension