In this study, we reported for the first time that FGF21 alleviated hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension through attenuation of increased pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary arterial remodeling and collagen deposition in vivo, and we confirmed the mutual promotion of FGF21 and PPARγ in hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Additionally, we found that FGF21 and PPARγ mutually promote each other's expression via the AMPK/PGC-1α pathway and KLB protein in vitro and in vivo. Pulmonary hypertension is a progressive and serious pathological phenomenon with a poor prognosis, and current therapies are highly limited. Our results provide novel insight into potential clinical therapies for pulmonary hypertension and establish the possibility of using this drug combination and potential dosage reductions in clinical settings.
Keywords: Fibroblast growth factor 21; collagen; hypoxia; peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ; pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell; pulmonary hypertension.