Understanding the Role of Ion Channels in Vascular Health and Disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the Role of Ion Channels in Vascular Health and Disease
IRAS ID
326049
Contact name
Marc Bailey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
10 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
It is recognised that blood vessels can undergo a process of alteration of their structure and arrangement. This is broadly defined as “vascular remodelling” and is a way that blood vessels are able to adapt to change. Vascular remodelling is required for a number of normal processes to occur. A specific example of this is how a mothers blood vessels reorganise during new pregnancy. However, in other circumstances, such vascular remodelling is inappropriate and can lead to the development and progression of many cardiovascular diseases.
To date, it is not fully understood how vascular remodelling can contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease or the role it plays in making such diseases worse. Our research group has developed an interest around the link between some specific channels present in the membrane of blood vessels and disorders of the blood vessels including inappropriate vascular remodelling.
The purpose of this research is to improve our understanding of the link between these membrane channels and the progression of diseases of the blood vessels. With a better understanding of the processes involved we hope to be able to develop new treatments for patients. This study would allow us to collect samples from patients with current diseases of the blood vessels or in patients undergoing surgery on their blood vessels. We will also recruit patients who do not have diseases of the blood vessels to act as controls to allow us to compare results with those who do have diseases of the blood vessels which will enable us to identify differences
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
24/NS/0016
Date of REC Opinion
7 Feb 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion