Circulating fibrocytes are increased in children and young adults with pulmonary hypertension

Chronic inflammation is an important component of the fibroproliferative changes that characterise pulmonary hypertensive vasculopathy. Fibrocytes contribute to tissue remodelling in settings of chronic inflammation, including animal models of pulmonary hypertension (PH). We sought to determine whether circulating fibrocytes were increased in children and young adults with PH. 26 individuals with PH and 10 with normal cardiac anatomy were studied. Fresh blood was analysed by flow cytometry for fibrocytes expressing CD45 and procollagen. Fibrocyte numbers were correlated to clinical and haemodynamic parameters, and circulating CC chemokine ligand (CCL)2 and CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL)12 levels. We found an enrichment of circulating fibrocytes among those with PH. No differences in fibrocytes were observed among those with idiopathic versus secondary PH. Higher fibrocytes correlated to increasing mean pulmonary artery pressure and age, but not to length or type of treatment. Immunofluorescence analysis confirmed flow sorting specificity. Differences in plasma levels of CCL2 or CXCL12, which could mobilise fibrocytes from the bone marrow, were not found. We conclude that circulating fibrocytes are significantly increased in individuals with PH compared with controls. We speculate that these cells might play important roles in vascular remodelling in children and young adults with pulmonary hypertension.

Genomic approaches to research in pulmonary hypertension

Genomics, or the study of genes and their function, is a burgeoning field with many new technologies. In the present review, we explore the application of genomic approaches to the study of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Candidate genes, important to the pathobiology of the disease, have been investigated. Rodent models enable the manipulation of selected genes, either by transgenesis or targeted disruption. Mutational analysis of genes in the transforming growth factor-beta family have proven pivotal in both familial and sporadic forms of primary PH. Finally, microarray gene expression analysis is a robust molecular tool to aid in delineating the pathobiology of this disease.

Severe pulmonary hypertension after the discovery of the familial primary pulmonary hypertension gene

The recent discoveries of the familial primary pulmonary hypertension gene and somatic mutations in key cell growth and cell death regulatory genes in primary pulmonary hypertension have added a new dimension to severe pulmonary hypertension research. These findings have already impacted on how the disease is viewed, and ultimately, how severe pulmonary hypertension is diagnosed and treated. However, this new information raises several fundamental questions related to the role of bone morphogenetic protein receptor signalling in the control of lung vascular cell function. Furthermore, additional genes and gene products may also be involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. The way severe pulmonary hypertension is viewed and studied is on the verge of shifting from a vasoconstrictive to a cell growth paradigm.

Gene expression patterns in the lungs of patients with primary pulmonary hypertension: a gene microarray analysis

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a disease of unknown etiology characterized by lumen-obliterating endothelial cell proliferation and vascular smooth muscle hypertrophy of the small precapillary pulmonary arteries. Because the vascular lesions are homogeneously distributed throughout the entire lung, we propose that a tissue fragment of the lung is representative of the whole lung. RNA extracted from the fragments is likely to provide meaningful information regarding the changes in gene expression pattern in PPH when compared with structurally normal lung tissue. We hypothesize that the lung tissue gene expression pattern of patients with PPH has a characteristic profile when compared with the gene expression pattern of structurally normal lungs and that this characteristic gene expression profile provides new insights into the pathobiology of PPH. Using oligonucleotide microarray technology, we characterized the expression pattern in the lung tissue obtained from 6 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH)-including 2 patients with the familial form of PPH (FPPH)-and from 6 patients with histologically normal lungs. For the data analysis, gene clusters were generated and the gene expression pattern differences between PPH and normal lung tissue and between PPH and FPPH lung tissue were compared. All PPH lung tissue samples showed a decreased expression of genes encoding several kinases and phosphatases, whereas several oncogenes and genes coding for ion channel proteins were upregulated in their expression. Importantly, we could distinguish by pattern comparison between sporadic PPH and FPPH, because alterations in the expression of transforming growth factor-beta receptor III, bone morphogenic protein 2, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 5, RACK 1, apolipoprotein C-III, and the gene encoding the laminin receptor 1 were only found in the samples from patients with sporadic PPH, but not in FPPH samples. We conclude that the microarray gene expression technique is a new and useful molecular tool that provides novel information pertinent to a better characterization and understanding of the pathobiology of the distinct clinical phenotypes of pulmonary hypertension.

Microsatellite instability of endothelial cell growth and apoptosis genes within plexiform lesions in primary pulmonary hypertension

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is a frequently fatal disease whose pathobiology is poorly understood. Monoclonal endothelial cell growth is present within plexiform lesions of patients with PPH but not secondary PH because of congenital heart malformations. We hypothesized that endothelial cells within PPH plexiform lesions harbor mutations permissive for clonal cell growth. We found that endothelial cells in PPH plexiform lesions demonstrated microsatellite instability within the human MutS Homolog 2 gene (10 of 20 lesions) and displayed microsatellite site mutations and reduced protein expression of transforming growth factor-beta receptor type II (6 of 19 lesions) and Bax (4 of 19 lesions). These results suggest that, in PPH, proliferated endothelial cells have genetic alterations associated with microsatellite instability and concomitant perturbation of growth and apoptosis gene expression akin to neoplasia. The full text of this article is available at http://www.circresaha.org.