The Contribution of Osteoprogenitor Cells to Arterial Stiffness and Hypertension

Hypertension, the major cause of cardiovascular disease, is bidirectionally linked to arterial stiffness. Evidence shows that vascular calcification, either medial or intimal, induces arterial stiffening further worsening hypertension parallel to substantially increasing cardiovascular risk. The disturbance in the bone-vascular axis that leads to the increase of calcium deposition in the arterial wall may be the result of a shift in the functionality of bone marrow-derived circulating stem cells with a calcifying potential, namely osteoprogenitor cells. These cells deposit bone matrix proteins in the vascular wall that can subsequently become mineralized. The current notion is that these cells derive from diverse cell lines. The present review summarizes the current knowledge on the role of progenitor cells with a calcifying potential on arterial calcification, stiffness and hypertension.