From research conducted at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch

Blood pressure regulator discovered in the liver

People with orthostatic hypotension experience a sudden drop in their blood pressure that causes them to faint when standing up.

Photo microscope nerve cells — Dr. Stefan Lechner (Max Delbrück Center) examining sensory nerve cells stained with fluorescent dye under a fluorescence microscope. Photo/Graphic: MDC/D. Ausserhofer.

Image mechanism blood pressure regulator — Photo/Graphic: MDC/S. Lechner.

They can be helped by a strategy that is both simple and effective and is used systematically in clinics: drinking a glass of water. The underlying mechanism was elucidated by Professor Gary Lewin and Dr. Stefan Lechner of the MDC, working with Professor Jens Jordan of the Hanover Medical School and Professor Friedrich C. Luft of the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (an institute run jointly by the MDC and the Charité Medical Faculty on the MDC’s Berlin-Buch campus). In their study the scientists identified the sensory nerve cells in the liver that cause the increase in blood pressure by activating parts of the sympathetic nervous system via circuits in the spinal cord.

Nicole Silbermann

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