Lindsey Shapiro, PhD,  science writer—

A variant in the gene encoding the ALDH2 enzyme — fully known as aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 — was linked to an increased risk of pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) among heart failure patients, a study in China found. Also called a polymorphism, meaning it involves one…

While about a quarter of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients treated with the investigational therapy sotatercept tested positive for antibodies against it, the antibodies didn’t influence the therapy’s safety or effectiveness, according to a clinical trial analysis. The study, “The impact of immunogenicity on the pharmacokinetics,…

Add-on treatment with sotatercept, an investigational therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) now under regulatory review in the U.S., was predicted to prolong survival by about threefold relative to standard of care therapy alone in a recent analysis. The prediction model was built using short-term data from the…

Immune-related genes that could serve as potential therapeutic targets for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) were identified in a recent study. Among them was ROCK2, which was found to have increased gene activity in PAH patients’ lung tissue and animal models. Therapeutic molecules to inhibit the ROCK2 protein are already being…

An inhaled formulation of imatinib in development by Aerami Therapeutics to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), was safe and well tolerated with few systemic side effects among healthy adults in a Phase 1 trial. AER-901, which is delivered via a smart, breath-activated nebulizer, also showed a distinct absorption…

Scientists have identified gene, protein, and signaling pathway alterations in the livers of people with portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) — a form of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) usually associated with liver disease — that could reflect underlying mechanisms of the rare disorder. Compared with liver disease patients without PoPH, those…

Among patients undergoing surgery for a heart valve disease, the presence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) was associated with a worse prognosis, particularly for patients with high pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). PVR is an an indicator of resistance to blood flow in the pulmonary arteries sending blood from the heart…

Certain proteins implicated in the immune response and inflammation showed a potential to serve as blood biomarkers of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a recent study. A possible diagnostic biomarker was seen in the TNF‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) protein. It demonstrated an ability to distinguish PAH patients not only…

Scientists in India have developed derivatives of bosentan — the active ingredient in Tracleer — that were able to ease signs of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a rat model. In addition to lowering blood pressure and restoring more normal heart and lung architecture, the molecules lowered biomarkers…

People with a combination of two lung diseases — specifically pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema, known as CPFE — who also have pulmonary hypertension (PH) were found to be at an increased risk of death in comparison to CPFE patients without PH, according to a new meta-analysis. Having CPFE also…

A one-time surgical procedure called pulmonary artery denervation or PADN was linked to a reduced risk of clinical worsening in the long term for people with combined pre- and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension (CpcPH). That’s according to three-year data from a clinical trial involving CpcPH patients who underwent the procedure.

Treatment with cannabidiol (CBD) for three weeks lowered signs of cardiac fibrosis, or scar tissue build-up, in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension (PH). The findings indicate that CBD may be beneficial for boosting heart function in PH patients via inhibition of certain pro-fibrotic signaling pathways, according to researchers,…