University of Virginia scientists say losing just a few hundred brainstem nerve cells destabilised blood pressure even when average readings stayed normal, according to a study in Circulation Research.
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine report that they have identified a small population of nerve cells in the brainstem that helps keep blood pressure steady from moment to moment. The work, published in the journal Circulation Research, points to a mechanism that standard check-ups can overlook: blood pressure is usually judged by its average value, yet growing evidence suggests that large or rapid swings through the day can raise the risk of heart disease, stroke and brain injury even when the average looks normal.
According to the university's account of the study, the brainstem cells appear to limit pressure fluctuations as a person moves between sleeping, waking, standing and exercising. Lead investigator Stephen Abbott said that losing only a few hundred of these neurons produced unstable blood pressure even though mean pressure stayed in the normal range, which he said shows that the system holding pressure steady had stopped working. The same cells have previously been found damaged or missing in people with multiple system atrophy, a rare and fatal neurological disorder related to Parkinson's disease that is often accompanied by severe blood pressure control problems.
The findings are an early research result, not a new treatment or a change to clinical advice, and the summary available does not describe any trial in patients. The authors suggest the mechanism could eventually help explain unstable blood pressure in other conditions and guide therapies aimed at reducing harmful fluctuations rather than only lowering average numbers. The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health, and the researchers reported no financial interests related to it. People with concerns about their own blood pressure should speak to a doctor rather than draw conclusions from a single laboratory study.
