Hypertension is a common age-related disease, along with vascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Vascular ageing increases during hypertension, but hypertension itself accelerates vascular ageing, thus creating a vicious circle. Vascular stiffening, endothelial dysfunction, impaired contractility and vasorelaxation are the main alterations related to vascular ageing, as a consequence of vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells senescence. Several molecular mechanisms have been involved into the functional and morphological changes of the aged vessels. Among them, oxidative stress, inflammation, extracellular matrix deregulation and mitochondrial dysfunction are the best characterized. In the present review, we discuss relevant literature about the biology of vascular and cerebrovascular ageing with a particular focus on mitochondria signalling. We underline the therapeutic strategies, able to improve mitochondrial health, which may represent a promising tool to decrease vascular dysfunction associated with ageing and hypertension-related complications.

高血压是常见的与年龄有关的疾病，与血管和神经退行性疾病一样。高血压期间血管衰老增加，但是高血压本身会加速血管衰老，从而形成恶性循环。由于血管平滑肌和内皮细胞衰老，血管硬化，内皮功能障碍，收缩力受损和血管松弛是与血管衰老相关的主要变化。衰老血管的功能和形态变化涉及多种分子机制。其中，氧化应激，炎症，细胞外基质失调和线粒体功能障碍是最明显的特征。在目前的评论中，我们讨论有关血管和脑血管衰老生物学的相关文献，特别关注线粒体信号传导。我们强调了能够改善线粒体健康的治疗策略，这可能是减少与衰老和高血压相关并发症相关的血管功能障碍的有前途的工具。