Prostanoids in blood pressure regulation and their role in the blood pressure lowering effects induced by changes in dietary fats.
It has been suggested that deficient formation of vasodilatory prostanoids may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. PUFA can be a source of arachidonic acid, which is partly converted into prostanoids. Increasing the dietary amount of PUFA has been consistently shown to decrease blood pressure in animals and man. The mechanism of the blood pressure lowering action, however, is not clear. We have found that a diet rich in PUFA can lower blood pressure but at the same time reduce the formation of those vasodilatory prostanoids which nowadays are regarded as the most active ones in the circulatory regulation.