Linking inflammation and hypertension in humans:: studies in Bartter's/Gitelman's syndrome patients

Inflammation and the relationship between inflammation, angiotensin II (Ang II) and its signalling have been recognized as playing a critical role in hypertension and atherosclerosis, but few data are available in humans. We explored in Bartter's/Gitelman's syndrome (BS/GS) patients, who do not develop hypertension and related cardiovascular remodelling and atherosclerosis despite high Ang II levels, the inflammation status through the evaluation of factors included in Ang II signalling involved in inflammation, and found unchanged phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK)/ERK ratio and p66(shc) compared to controls while I kappa B, the inhibitory subunit of nuclear factor-kappa B, was increased. This, together with the unchanged level of inflammatory markers that we previously reported in BS/GS, depicts a picture opposite to that of hypertension and indirectly supports a link between inflammation and hypertension.