One in three Australian adults have high blood pressure which is the underlying cause of cardiovascular diseases including heart failure, dementia, and chronic kidney disease. While drugs exist to lower blood pressure, these do not address the underlying changes in blood vessels that links high blood pressure to these diseases. This project will interrogate a new therapeutic approach for hypertension by honing in on a “bad” type of immune cells called macrophages, that drive the stiffening of blood vessels and directly cause the onset of hypertension and its downstream complications. Our team has developed innovative 3D technology and from this we have discovered a new pathway that causes macrophages to stiffen blood vessels and increase blood pressure. We are the first in the world to discover this pathway and if successful, we anticipate such a treatment would eliminate the need for lifelong blood pressure medication.
Last updated12 March 2024