Brain Region That Controls Breathing May Influence Blood Pressure Levels: Study

The lateral parafacial (pFL) region of the brain, responsible for controlling breathing, may also connect to nerves that tighten blood vessels, leading to a rise in blood pressure, according to a study, findings from which could present a new treatment target for hypertension.

The pFL region -- located in the brainstem, which connects the cerebrum in the brain to the spinal cord -- controls automatic functions, including digestion, breathing, and heart rate.

Forced exhalations while laughing, exercising or coughing are driven by powerful abdominal muscles, which are not required during a normal exhalation, lead researcher Julian Paton, director of the centre for heart research at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said.

"The lateral parafacial region is recruited into action, causing us to exhale during a laugh, exercise or coughing," Paton said.

In rats induced with hypertension, the study published in the journal Circulation Research found that the pFL region also connects to nerves that tighten blood vessels, a mechanism that raises blood pressure.

"Researchers discovered that, in conditions of high blood pressure, the lateral parafacial region is activated and, when our team inactivated this region, blood pressure fell to normal levels," Paton said.

Changes in breathing patterns, especially those involving strong abdominal muscle contractions, can therefore trigger high blood pressure in patients, the researchers said.

"The heightened sympathetic activity inducing hypertension triggered by chronic intermittent hypoxia is caused, in the most part, by the emergence of pFL expiratory oscillations driving rostral ventrolateral medulla and A5 sympathetic vasomotor neurons (both in the brainstem) and active expiration simultaneously," the authors wrote.

They "propose that suppressing pFL neurons would have therapeutic potential."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)