Studying links between tiny cardiac arteries and patient risk factors
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Patient-specific bioinformatics linking coronary microvascular structure, function and gene expression
IRAS ID
312898
Contact name
Kim Dora
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 1 days
Research summary
Arteries of the coronary microcirculation are small, hair-like arteries that supply blood to the beating heart. These small arteries possess the ability to change their size, which is essential for controlling blood flow to meet the demands of the heart. However, when their ability to contract or dilate is impaired, known as coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), serious adverse cardiovascular outcomes can occur. Despite the potential serious consequences of CMD, the underlying processes that lead to human CMD have not been explored in detail. This is likely due to the small size of the arteries, which limits our ability to measure human microvascular function within the heart.
Based on patient biopsies from protocol IRAS ID: 48676 (REC number (10/H060/36) (CI: Prof Kim Dora) we have recently demonstrated a model for investigating CMD. Here, we showed that ~40% of small arteries of the microcirculation isolated from human biopsies possessed reduced ability to change size, which corresponded with altered structural and cellular characteristics. The project intends to build on this previous work and use this model to investigate the processes causing CMD.
The project will use arteries dissected from human biopsies (similar to protocol ID: 48676 CI: Prof Kim Dora), which are collected from patients during cardiac surgery as part of their normal care. Using these arteries gene activation levels will be measured alongside structural and functional measurements. Ultimately, the project will link patient history, genetic influences (gene activation levels), and structure and function of arteries to identify genes linked to microvascular dysfunction. Understanding how control of blood flow by arteries is changed in patients with heart disease will enable us to develop therapies to counter these problems.
This project is funded by the Novo Nordisk Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is run in partnership with the University of Oxford.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0076
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion