October, 2011

Pharmacy researchers looking to improve heart health

Rajesh Amin is trying to help millions of diabetic Americans who suffer from heart complications each year from developing congestive heart failure.

Amin, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacal Sciences in the Harrison School of Pharmacy, and others at Auburn University are working together to improve heart health through lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions.

More than 90 percent of the nearly 26 million people with diabetes in the United States are living with Type 2, once known as adult-onset or noninsulin dependent diabetes. Heart failure is the leading cause of death of Type 2 diabetics.

“Most diabetic patients suffer from vascular problems usually associated with clogged arteries or atherosclerosis. This leads to damage in the heart and the ensuing heart failure,” said Amin. “My lab is trying to understand how this happens and how to prevent it.”

To better understand the subject, Amin has joined forces with John Quindry, an exercise physiologist in the Department of Kinesiology; Juming Zhong, who studies heart arrhythmias and contractile dysfunction in the College of Veterinary Medicine; Orlando Acevedo, a chemist in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and Forrest Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacal Sciences, who together are analyzing potential therapeutic compounds. Tracey Ward serves as the synthesis chemist for the group from Ferris State University in Michigan.

“It has been found that exercise induces a type of protection against heart failure, which has allowed us to focus upon understanding the specific molecular targets that will better allow us to develop pharmacological tools to fight the potential heart attack,” said Amin. “We are currently investigating new tools developed here to better fight the stress from heart attacks.”

The team’s success could soon be a massive benefit to Alabama, which has one of highest populations that suffer from diabetes and heart failure in the country.

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New developments could led to advancements in treatment of heart disease

A research team in the Harrison School of Pharmacy has identified a key blood factor that could help in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

Heart disease, which claims a life every 34 seconds, is the leading cause of death in the Unites States. Currently, 1 in 3 Americans have some form of heart disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.

Current treatments are limited to blood pressure control and lipid-lowering drugs, but research in the lab of Jianzhong Shen, an assistant professor of pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacal Sciences, may transform current therapies with a novel drug that would stop atherosclerotic heart disease regardless of blood cholesterol levels. Atherosclerotic heart disease is the hardening of the arteries, usually as a result of accumulated fatty materials such as cholesterol.

The team has found that a simple blood test on the blood factor, SDF-1, could show the likeness and severity of a person’s heart disease with narrowing blood vessels. More importantly, preliminary studies indicated an SDF-1 supplement drastically suppressed progression of human heart disease in a mouse.

“We are trying to find a new diagnostic and therapeutic agent for atherosclerotic heart disease without compromising lipid metabolism,” said Shen. “That way people may still enjoy fast-food with no worry of their blood cholesterol level.”

The team is currently looking for the exact mechanism responsible for the powerful heart benefits offered by SDF-1.