Researchers led by Huige Li from the DZHK partner site RheinMain report in the journal Hypertension that administration of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) to pregnant rats with primary hypertension reduces systolic blood pressure in female offspring by 10-13 mmHg. PETN treatment had no effect on the blood pressure of the mother or of male offspring. If this result could be extrapolated to humans it would mean that treating the mother would, in certain cases, provide long-term relief for offspring affected by genetically inherited hypertension. The researchers believe that an epigenetic mechanism is responsible for the effect and they plan to conduct further studies on this topic.
The editors of the journal selected the article for an editorial commentary and a press release was issued by the American Heart Association.