Researchers Uncover Mechanisms Leading To Portal Hypertension

A physician-scientist at UT Southwestern Medical Center and his research team have identified mechanisms causing a potentially deadly type of hypertension that results from liver damage - findings that could lead to its prevention. This particular type of hypertension, called portal hypertension, affects the blood flow into the portal vein, which feeds blood to the liver. Dr. Don Rockey, the new chief of the digestive and liver diseases at UT Southwestern, identified the cellular activity that results in portal hypertension. He and his colleagues then took the research a step further, showing that if the process can be interrupted, the hypertension subsides. The National Institutes of Health-funded research - available online and scheduled to appear in a future issue of the journal Nature Medicine - was conducted by Dr. Rockey while he was at Duke University Medical Center.