Toll-Like Receptors, Hypertension, and an Antimalarial Drug

The role of the immune system in the pathogenesis of hypertension is a growing area of research. Although the immune system had long been suspected to contribute to hypertension, only in the last decade have studies begun to define the roles of the participating immune cells and molecules involved in hypertension.1–4 Toll-like receptors (TLRs)5,6 are part of the innate immune system that recognize molecular patterns on various pathogens (pathogen-associated molecular patterns) and so called endogenous damage signals (damage-associated molecular patterns). These patterns may be proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, or nucleic acids. TLRs are expressed either on the cell surface or in intracellular endolysosomal compartment. Although the endogenous ligands of the TLRs that trigger hypertension have not been identified, disruption of TLR signaling has been shown to attenuate hypertension.