Revisione del Progetto: NEUROENDOCRINE BASIS OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION: INVOLVEMENT OF THE ADRENAL MEDULLARY TISSUE

We propose to investigate the neuroendocrine basis of arterial hypertension, which represents the most frequently encountered pathology in response to chronic exposure to a stressful environment. This proposal brings together three teams engaged in the study of cellular and tissular mechanisms involved in vascular pathologies and associated mitochondrial dysfunction correlated with risk factors (stress, aging, diabetes,…). Our organism is daily subjected to environmental changes often perceived as stressors and copes with this by triggering physiological adaptive responses, mediated in particular by an increase in circulating catecholamines. Catecholamines are among the first mediators to be released in response to stress and the adrenal medulla, which is the main source of circulating epinephrine, plays a crucial role in this process. Once delivered into the blood circulation, catecholamines exert multiple actions in particular on the cardiovascular system, leading to appropriate adjustments of blood pressure and cardiac rhythm, and on the energy metabolism. However, as a consequence of prolonged or repetitive stress, adaptive mechanisms can dysregulate, contributing to the development of several illnesses including vascular pathologies such as arterial hypertension or atherosclerosis. Although it is clearly accepted that increased circulating catecholamines can contribute to such pathologies, the involvement of the adrenal medullary tissue in arterial hypertension remains largely neglected.