title: Hypertension as an autoimmune and inflammatory disease.
abstract: Hypertension that is considered idiopathic is called essential hypertension and accordingly has no clear culprit for its cause. However, basic research and clinical studies in recent years have expanded our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of essential hypertension. Of these, increased oxidative stress, both in the kidney and arterial wall, closely coupled with inflammatory infiltration now appear to have a prominent role. Discovery of regulatory and interleukin-17-producing T cells has enabled us to better understand the mechanism by which inflammation and autoimmunity, or autoinflammation, lead to the development of hypertension. Despite achieving considerable progress, the intricate interactions between oxidative stress, the immune system and the development of hypertension remain to be fully elucidated. In this review, we summarize recent developments in the pathophysiology of hypertension with a focus on the oxidant stress-autoimmunity-inflammation interaction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital, Sakarya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yalcin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Solak
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Konya Numune State Hospital, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Baris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Afsar
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Schools of Medicine and Biological Science, University of California Irvine, California, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Nosratola D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Vaziri
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Koc University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gamze
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Koc University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Can Ege
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Yalcin
authors.affiliation: Nephrology Clinic, Dialysis and Renal Transplant Center, 'CI PARHON' University Hospital, and 'Grigore T Popa' University of Medicine, Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Covic
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Koc University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanbay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*