MADRID (EFE).— Olfactory receptors are not only in the nose, there are also organs such as the kidneys and it is these that might help explain the differences in blood pressure between women and men, as well as in other mammals, according to publishes “Science Advances”.
Research led by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine tested mice and analyzed data from humans to determine the role of that olfactory receptor in regulating stress.
Blood pressure in premenopausal female humans and mice is usually ten points lower than in males, both diastolic and systolic, and although some studies suggest that it may be due to sex hormones, the biological basis of the variation is not clear.
In various organs of the body there are olfactory receptors, small proteins located on the surface of cells that detect odors and chemicals.
The researchers focused on the olfactory receptor Olfr558, which is one of those conserved by evolution in many mammals, such as mice, and which in its human version is called OR51E1.
receptor in the kidney
In this study, the researchers found the receptor in kidney blood vessel cells and juxtaglomerular granular cells, a type of kidney cell that secretes the hormone renin, which plays a key role in regulating blood pressure.
“This was our first indication that we needed to take a closer look at the impact of Olfr558 on blood pressure,” said the study’s first author, Jennifer Pluznick.
Male mice with normal levels of Olfr558 regularly had blood pressure 10 points higher than that of females; However, if they were genetically manipulated so that they lacked the gene for that receptor, the differences disappeared.
Preliminary data point to blood vessel stiffness and levels of the hormone renin in the blood as possible reasons for the lack of change in blood pressure in mice without the receptor.
The team also analyzed genomic information from human tissue data stored in the UK Biobank, focusing on people with a rare variation in the human version of the olfactory receptor OR51E1.
No difference
The result was that women and men under 50 years of age with this variant do not show the typical differences in blood pressure linked to gender. “We hope that improving our knowledge of the basic biology of this new link will allow us to better understand blood pressure regulation in both sexes,” Pluznick said.
The researchers cautioned that this work has not identified a direct molecular signaling pathway that establishes the link between the olfactory receptor and blood pressure variation, but the team wants to address it in the future.
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2024-04-12 20:16:32