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Scientists Might Have Found a New Cause of High Blood Pressure, And a Way to Treat It
Developing
In Short: Researchers from the University of São Paulo and the University of Auckland found that the lateral parafacial (pFL) brain region can trigger biological changes that raise blood pressure.
In tests on rats, the pFL region was found to activate sympathetic nervous system responses, leading to increased blood pressure.
Physiologist Julian Paton said, 'We discovered that, in conditions of high blood pressure, the lateral parafacial region is activated and, when our team inactivated this region, blood pressure fell to normal levels.'
The study also links changes in breathing rhythms to increased activity in the sympathetic nervous system, potentially explaining why people with sleep apnea have a higher risk of hypertension.
The researchers are exploring how drugs might target pFL neurons without interfering with other brain functions.
A separate study found that pyridoxal 5′ phosphate, the active form of vitamin B6, blocks a receptor that drives high blood pressure.
Breathing-related nerve activity, sympathetic nerve activity, and blood pressure were all monitored in the experiments.
The findings could lead to new therapeutic strategies for treating hypertension.
The challenge now is to develop drugs that can safely target the pFL region.
The study's findings could provide new avenues for treating hypertension in patients who do not respond to current medications.
What's still developing
- It might explain why so many people (around 40 percent by some estimates ) still have uncontrolled blood pressure despite taking anti-hypertensive medications.
- The finding also revealed a new potential treatment pathway.
- Related: Study Reveals How Much Exercise You Need Weekly To Control Blood Pressure The next challenge is figuring out how drugs might be able to target the pFL neurons in particular, without interfering with anything else – and the researchers report that they've made some headway here too.
- A separate study from the same University of Auckland group, published at the start of this year in Cardiovascular Research, found that pyridoxal 5′ phosphate – the active form of vitamin B6 – blocks a receptor called P2X3 that becomes overactive in the carotid bodies of people with high blood pressure, dialling down the nerve signals that drive it up in the first place.
- A small trial in 14 people with hypertension found the same approach eased the body's exaggerated response to low oxygen, at least in those whose chemoreflex was most sensitive to begin with.
- That combination of breath control and blood vessel signaling could be driving hypertension in some cases, the researchers say.
- Scientists have found that a compound found in pomegranates, urolithin A, may be beneficial ( Science Advances, Aug. 21, 2026 ).
- During approximately 15 years of follow-up, the scientists noted which volunteers were diagnosed with heart failure.
- She might not have known why, but scientists have confirmed that people who eat about a cup of dark green leafy veggies daily have slightly but significantly lower blood pressure.
- "Given that around 50 percent of patients with hypertension have a neurogenic component, the challenge is to understand mechanisms generating sympatho-excitation in hypertension," write the researchers in their published paper.
- Paton explained the strategy : "Our goal is to target the carotid bodies, and we are importing a new drug that is being repurposed by us to quench carotid body activity and inactivate remotely the lateral parafacial region safely, i.e., without needing to use a drug that penetrates the brain."
- "Such a revelation would provide much-needed clinical orientation for new therapeutic strategies." In their experiments in rats, the researchers used genetic engineering techniques to turn pFL neurons on or off, then observed the effects.
Sources
- Peoplespharmacylink