TY - JOUR T1 - Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in COPD-associated pulmonary hypertension: been there, done that? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.01191-2017 VL - 50 IS - 1 SP - 1701191 AU - Harm Jan Bogaard Y1 - 2017/07/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/50/1/1701191.abstract N2 - To many of us involved in teaching pulmonary physiology and gas exchange to medical students, hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) is a favourite topic. The unique property of small pulmonary arteries to constrict in response to a reduced alveolar oxygen tension allows us to cover not only the complexities of ventilation perfusion matching, but also to dive into the more exciting “physiological classics”, such as the fetal circulation and high altitude adaptation. Ever since von Euler and Liljestrand described their observations on pulmonary arterial blood pressure in the hypoxic cat [1], scientists have been dedicated to better understand the pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia. It is generally accepted that the endothelial cell plays a central role in hypoxic sensing [2], and that hypoxic sensing involves changing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) – although the direction of this change (up or down) continues to be debated [3, 4]. Mitochondria and NADPH oxidase (Nox) are considered as the major sources of ROS production in the pulmonary vasculature [5].Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, mediated by p22phox, is a double-edged sword in COPD http://ow.ly/QiaC30cMgPZ ER -