The role of oestrogen and serotonin in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Oestrogen synthesis and metabolism in pulmonary arterial hypertension

More than 2,000 people in the UK have pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where overactive cell growth in blood vessel walls reduces the space for blood flow in the lungs. Professor Margaret MacLean has been awarded a three-year grant to find out how hormones such as oestrogen and serotonin contribute to PAH. When oestrogen levels are high in the lungs, it seems the hormone can be broken down into harmful chemicals that cause cells to change. At the same time, more protective chemicals disappear. Professor MacLean’s team will look in mice to work out how the chemicals, derived from hormones, cause damage to arteries. They will also see what effect medicines that alter oestrogen levels – already used to treat cancer, for example – have on PAH. This work could result in such drugs being rapidly tested for the treatment of this disease and save lives.