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Leukocyte membrane bleb and pseudopod formation in hypertension

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 24, pages 684–686 (2010)Cite this article

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Leukocyte activation, including adhesion molecule expression, oxygen radical generation and, in animal studies, pseudopod formation, is a hallmark of hypertension. This study examined pseudopod and bleb formation and demonstrates that leukocytes from hypertensive individuals are more susceptible to produce membrane blebs than leukocytes from normotensive individuals. Bleb formation is likely indicative of apoptosis, thus this observation adds to previous observations of increased apoptosis in various tissues in hypertension.

Chronically elevated blood pressure (BP) is associated with a growing list of inflammatory markers at rest and with exaggerated inflammatory responses to acute stress.1, 2 Animal models of hypertension show that, in addition to other markers of leukocyte activation, pseudopod projections are upregulated alongside elevated BP. Pseudopods are temporary projections formed through F-actin polymerization used by cells in phagocytosis and spreading and migration.3 Pseudopod formation may be important in BP control because of its contribution to vascular resistance in the microvasculature, especially in capillaries, which demand single-file cell motion. Owing to their relatively large size, leukocyte velocity is reduced in capillaries, and thus contributes to increase vascular viscosity and microvascular resistance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grants HL57265 and HL073355 from the National Institutes of Health and the UCSD General Clinical Research Center (MO1RR-00827).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, UCSD Medical Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    K M Edwards, B Sheu, S Hong & P J Mills

  2. Department of Bioengineering, The Institute of Engineering in Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    B Sheu, A H Penn & G W Schmid-Schönbein

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  1. K M Edwards
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  2. B Sheu
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Correspondence to K M Edwards.

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Edwards, K., Sheu, B., Hong, S. et al. Leukocyte membrane bleb and pseudopod formation in hypertension. J Hum Hypertens 24, 684–686 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2010.41

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