Cardiovascular Research Programme Is Funded By The Biomedical Research Centre, Guy's And St Thomas' And King's College London

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 20 Apr 2009 - 3:00 PST

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A £750,000 research programme to increase understanding of why arteries stiffen and how this stiffening contributes to cardiovascular disease, as well as to potentially identify new medical treatments, has been funded by the comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London.

Arterial stiffening disease affecting the heart, the brain or causing aortic aneurysms is the major cause of death and disability in people in south east London. One aspect of arterial disease is the deposition of calcium within the arterial wall leading to the stiffening of the arteries. At the same time as calcium is deposited in the walls of the arteries there may be a loss of calcium from the bones leading to the thinning of the bones (osteoporosis).

Calcification is now acknowledged to be one of the most important consequences of arterial disease and a precursor to complications such as stroke, heart attack and aortic aneurysms. Although the process occurs much more rapidly in patients with chronic kidney disease, little is known about what causes calcification to happen. There are also no known treatments to prevent or reverse this arterial problem.

Through the ARTerial Inflammation, Stiffening and Calcification (ARTISTIC) programme, researchers and clinicians at King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, members of King's Health Partners, hope to increase understanding of the causes of arterial calcification. They will also answer other important questions, such as the link with aortic aneurysm, and whether improving kidney function by early transplantation in patients with chronic kidney disease might prevent calcification. In addition, researchers will conduct a randomised controlled trial to establish whether bisphosphonates, a commonly prescribed and well-tolerated class of drugs used in osteoporosis, could be used to prevent or reverse arterial calcification/stiffening.

Professor Phil Chowienczyk, Professor of Cardiovascular Clinical Pharmacology at King's College London said: "Heart disease is a key local health priority and so increasing our understanding about the causes of heart disease is an important step to help us improve patient care. Through this study, we hope to inform the direction of further cardiovascular research and also contribute to the development of new treatments. We look forward to our patients being the first beneficiaries of any new discoveries."

The programme is one of eight major programmes of research, known as Interdisciplinary Programmes as they bring together strengths across a number of different diseases and disciplines, which have recently been funded through the comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College. Each of these programmes aims to lead to real advances in the clinical care delivered to our patients in the next few years, either through the development of new diagnostic tools or new medical treatments.

Biomedical Research Centre.

Source
Guys and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

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