NLRP3 and hypertensive disorder: NLRP3 activation results in caspase-1 activation and subsequent secretion of IL-1β and IL-18 (Chen and Nunez, 2010; Van Tassell et al., 2013; Lamkanfi and Dixit, 2014), the plasma levels of which are consistently high in patients with hypertension (Dorffel et al., 1999; Li et al., 2005; Rabkin, 2009).