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Factors Responsible for Obesity-Related Hypertension

  • Secondary Hypertension: Nervous System Mechanisms (M Wyss, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The major health issue of being overweight or obese relates to the development of hypertension, insulin resistance and diabetic complications. One of the major underlying factors influencing the elevated blood pressure in obesity is increased activity of the sympathetic nerves to particular organs such as the kidney.

Recent Findings

There is now convincing evidence from animal studies that major signals such as leptin and insulin have a sympathoexcitatory action in the hypothalamus to cause hypertension. Recent studies suggest that this may involve ‘neural plasticity’ within hypothalamic signalling driven by central actions of leptin mediated via activation of melanocortin receptor signalling and activation of brain neurotrophic factors.

Summary

This review describes the evidence to support the contribution of the SNS to obesity related hypertension and the major metabolic and adipokine signals.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; APP526618 and APP1043205). The study was supported, in part, by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program. G.A. Head was funded by an NHMRC Fellowship (APP1002186). KL was funded by an NHMRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (APP1053928). KLJ was funded by an NHMRC Fellowship (APP1091688). YS was funded by a Heart Foundation Fellowship and Japan Heart Foundation/Bayer Yakuhin Research Grant Abroad, and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 25·5473.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Anatomy & Microbiology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Kyungjoon Lim

  2. Neuropharmacology Laboratory, Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, 75 Commercial Road, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia

    Kyungjoon Lim, Kristy L. Jackson, Yusuke Sata & Geoffrey A. Head

  3. Department of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Kyungjoon Lim & Geoffrey A. Head

  4. Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Yusuke Sata

  5. Department of Pharmacology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Geoffrey A. Head

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  3. Yusuke Sata
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  4. Geoffrey A. Head
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Correspondence to Geoffrey A. Head.

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Conflict of Interest

Drs. Jackson, Lim and Head report grants from NHMRC and National Heart Foundation. Dr. Sata reports grants from Heart Foundation, Japan Heart Foundation/Bayer Yakuhin and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

K Lim, KL Jackson, Y Sata and GA Head declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Secondary Hypertension: Nervous System Mechanisms

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Lim, K., Jackson, K.L., Sata, Y. et al. Factors Responsible for Obesity-Related Hypertension. Curr Hypertens Rep 19, 53 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-017-0750-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-017-0750-1

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