Role of interstitial fibroblasts and intermediate cells in microvascular wall remodelling in pulmonary hypertension

The cellular basis of the development of new contractile cells in lung microvessels in hyperoxic pulmonary hypertension is reviewed. Extensive remodelling of the walls of the nonmuscular segments of these vessels was induced in rats breathing 87% oxygen for 1-28 days and the cellular changes followed at the ultrastructural level. In certain segments it is the interstitial fibroblast that forms a new layer of contractile cells within the vessel …