A Look to the Future: Potential Therapeutic Options for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

O’Callaghan D, Jais X, Montani D, Sitbon O, Simonneau G, Humbert M. A look to the future: potential therapeutic options for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Annals of Respiratory Medicine, February 2010; 1(1):105-112


Review Article

Dermot S O'Callaghan ^{1 2 3}, Xavier Jaïs ^{1 2 3}, David Montani ^{1 2 3}, Olivier Sitbon ^{1 2 3}, Gérald Simonneau ^{1 2 3} and Marc Humbert ^{1 2 3}
Affiliations: ¹ Université Paris‐Sud and ² Centre National de Référence de l’Hypertension Pulmonaire Sévère, Service de Pneumologie et Réanimation Respiratoire, Hôpital Antoine Béclère and ³ INSERM U999, Hypertension Artérielle Pulmonaire


ABSTRACT

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease characterized by dysregulated vascular proliferation and remodeling of small pulmonary arteries, which leads to progressively increased pulmonary vascular resistance and right ventricular failure. Despite the remarkable therapeutic advances that have been made over the past two decades, disease progression is inevitable in the majority of patients, underscoring the need for novel approaches. An increased understanding of the complex pathobiology of PAH has facilitated the identification of a number of possible novel pharmacologic targets. This in turn has led directly to the development and prospective evaluation in randomized studies of therapeutic approaches that act on relevant aberrant pathways not addressed by currently available treatments. This review provides an overview of emerging approaches that may become part of the future therapeutic armamentarium for this deadly disease.

Keywords: pulmonary arterial hypertension, nitric oxide, prostacyclin, vasoactive intestinal peptide, tyrosine kinase inhibitor, serotonin, cell‐based therapy
Correspondence: Dermot S O’Callaghan, Centre National de Référence de l’Hypertension Pulmonaire Sévère, Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital Antoine Béclère, Assistance Publique—Hôpitaux de Paris, Université Paris‐Sud, 157 rue de la Porte de Trivaux, 92140 Clamart, France. Tel: (33)‐1‐45‐37‐47‐72; Fax: (33)‐1‐46‐30‐38‐24; e‐mail: dsocallaghan@yahoo.com