ArticleJournal of hypertension2026
Potential role of the spleen in the development of arterial hypertension in humans.
Article in Journal of hypertension, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Splenic contraction associated with sudden, transient hypotension and sympathoexcitation in humans.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Neural-immune-cardiovascular axis: from mechanistic crosstalk to therapeutic targets in cardiovascular disease.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
20 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesImmunity, particularly T lymphocytes, plays an important role in the development of arterial hypertension. Moreover, the so-called neuro-immune axis has been identified as a crucial crossroads, occurring in the spleen and involving placental growth factor as the principal mediator. However, no studies in humans have yet investigated the role of the spleen in hypertension and vascular damage.
methodsIn this retrospective, case-control, single-blind study, we enrolled patients who had previously undergone elective splenectomy (cases) and subjects who had undergone elective cholecystectomy (controls). All subjects underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, evaluation of retinal arteriole morphology by adaptive optics, capillary density assessment by video-capillaroscopy, arterial stiffness measurements, and analysis of T lymphocyte subpopulations by flow cytometry.
resultsFifty patients were included: 25 (50%) cases and 25 (50%) controls. No difference in hypertension prevalence ( P = 0.39) or cumulative incidence ( P = 0.79) of new diagnoses was detected. Splenectomized patients displayed lower 24-h ( P = 0.024) and daytime ( P = 0.011) diastolic blood pressure compared to cholecystectomized patients. Similar results were obtained for retinal structural parameters, capillary density, and arterial stiffness between the groups. A significant impact of splenectomy on the relationship between 24-h diastolic BP and wall cross-sectional area ( P -interaction = 0.019) and forearm capillary density recruitment ( P -interaction = 0.020) was found. A higher number and percentage of CD3 + CD8 + T cells were observed in splenectomized patients compared to cholecystectomized patients ( P = 0.009 and P = 0.001, respectively), although no differences in cytokine production patterns were detected.
conclusionsFor the first time, our results support the role of the spleen in blood pressure control in humans. Further and larger studies are required to appropriately translate our findings into clinical practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.