Linking high blood pressure and stress

High blood pressure (hypertension) affects more than one billion people worldwide. In addition to its well-known health-related consequences, hypertension also influences how people respond to stress and regulate their emotions. People with high blood pressure often have exaggerated responses to stress, which may be linked to problems in how the body controls blood pressure – a system known as the baroreflex.

Miss Erin Marrs working at the University of Warwick aims to understand how pressure sensors in the body, called baroreceptors, function differently in people with high blood pressure. Located near the heart, these sensors send signals to the brain to help maintain stable blood pressure and support healthy stress responses. Recent research has discovered specific molecules, called PIEZO channels, that are essential for these pressure sensors to function.

This Medical and Life Sciences Research Fund supported project will investigate whether these PIEZO receptors are disrupted under high blood pressure and whether boosting or enhancing their function can improve blood pressure regulation and stress responses. The research will use genetic tools and behavioural testing to explore these questions.

Possible Beneficiaries:

• Individuals living with hypertension may ultimately benefit from new targets and treatments

that target the body’s natural blood pressure regulation systems.

• Researchers and academics may identify PIEZO channels as promising new targets for

therapies.

• The broader public stands to benefit through the development of more effective strategies to

manage blood pressure and stress improving quality of life and healthier ageing.