title: Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.
abstract: Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and pressure due to vascular remodeling and increased vessel tension secondary to chronic hypoxia during the fetal and newborn period. In comparison to the adult, the pulmonary vasculature of the fetus and the newborn undergoes tremendous developmental changes that increase susceptibility to a hypoxic insult. Substantial evidence indicates that chronic hypoxia alters the production and responsiveness of various vasoactive agents such as endothelium-derived nitric oxide, endothelin-1, prostanoids, platelet-activating factor, and reactive oxygen species, resulting in sustained vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. These changes occur in most cell types within the vascular wall, particularly endothelial and smooth muscle cells. At the cellular level, suppressed nitric oxide-cGMP signaling and augmented RhoA-Rho kinase signaling appear to be critical to the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension of the newborn.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Peking University, Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yuansheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: J Usha
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Raj
mesh_terms: D005311:Fetal Hypoxia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000503:physiopathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology