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AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract

Activating immune cells eased lung artery disease in rats

An immune-cell activator improved right-heart function in rats with established high blood pressure in the lung arteries; the study ended 10 days after treatment.

Paper by Elmira Safaie Qamsari, Yupu Deng, Pramod Sahadevan, +5 more authorsDuncan Stewart · Ottawa Hosp Rsch Institute

Our read

Interventions
Studied:
Experiments in rats with established pulmonary arterial hypertension, 10 days
What changed:
Right-heart function improved in rats with established lung artery disease after the immune-cell activator
The catch:
The rat experiment ended 10 days after treatment, limiting assessment of lasting benefit
Why it’s aging research:
It studies something that builds up in the body with age.

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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Rats in an animal experiment developed pulmonary arterial hypertension—high blood pressure in the lung arteries—after a drug injection and three weeks in low oxygen. Five weeks after the injection, the researchers gave alpha-galactosylceramide to activate immune cells called invariant natural killer T cells.

The activator increased these cells’ numbers in the lungs and improved right-heart function. It also reduced structural changes in the right ventricle, the heart chamber that pumps blood to the lungs. Pressure in that chamber was numerically lower. In separate experiments with cells grown in the lab, activated human immune cells of the same type selectively cleared senescent human cells from the lining of small lung blood vessels. Senescent cells have stopped dividing.

Why it matters

Senescent cells persist in many age-related and chronic diseases. The findings support exploring immune activation as a potential strategy for pulmonary vascular disease.

Caveats

The rat experiment ended 10 days after treatment, while the human findings came from cells grown in the lab, not patients. The conference abstract does not give group sizes or the activator dose.

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