Our results show that elevated pressure induces a gene expression pattern in cells that is considerably similar to that seen in aortic valve disease [1], in terms of altered expression of ECM proteins (MMP-1, MMP-3) [23, 24] and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6) [15, 25, 26]. This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and aortic valve disorder.