Microvascular Endothelium in Heart Failure

High blood pressure is a global problem. Untreated, it leads to decreased function of the heart muscle or heart failure with serious consequences for human health and survival. This is one of the reasons why cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Failure of our current therapies emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms in the evolution of the disease. There are several factors that play a role. Heart failure is not only affected by decreased contraction of muscle cells, also the vessels in the cardiac wall play an important regulating role. However the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon are insufficiently known to date. The proposed project is designed to investigate the control mechanisms that keep the weakened heart in balance. This balance sometimes derails in patients with valvular heart disease, high blood pressure or diseases of the heart muscle. We will investigate this mechanisms by isolating cells and studying them in several mouse models. This will allow us to find out what exactly goes wrong and how we can affect this problem. In the same philosophy, we will take human tissue during heart valve surgery to investigate whether the same mechanisms are found in humans. Our findings would lead to better therapies, a decrease in burden on health care expenses and healthier people.

Publication year:2021

Accessibility:Open