News© Institutional Communication, 11/28/2008
A research project of the Center for Applied Medical Research of the University of Navarra was awarded the Pfizer Foundation’s National Prize for Clinical Research
The project, led by Dr. Javier Díez and Dr. Susana Ravassa, identifies a protein as a mediating factor in cardiac damage from high blood pressure
Javier Díez.
Photo: Manuel Castells
A research project developed by the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) of the University of Navarra was awarded the Pfizer Foundation's National Prize for Clinical Research.
The research project demonstrated that an excess of the protein anexina A5 can drastically contribute to the death of cardiac cells, specifically cardiomiocites in hypertensive (high blood pressure) patients with cardiac insufficiency. “In addition, the project showed that concentrations of this protein can be carefully analyzed in patients’ blood. Thus, the outcome from the research experiments demonstrated that anexina A5 is probably a mediating factor of cardiac damage in high blood pressure and a biochemical component of that damage”, explained Dr. Javier Díez, Director of the Area of Cardiovascular Sciences in the CIMA.
High blood pressure is, along with ischemic heart disease, the number one cause of cardiac insufficiency in Spain. The reasons why hypertension damages cardiac muscle are not yet sufficiently understood. In recent years however, various research groups, among them the Laboratory of Hypertensive Heart Disease of the CIMA, have focused their attention on the malfunctioning of cardiac muscle caused by apoptosis (programmed cell death) of cardiomyocytes.
“The prevalence of cardiac insufficiency caused by high blood pressure is increasing in the population, especially in women, and life expectancy continues to be low in spite of the wide selection of therapeutic tools available. For this reason, it is fundamental that we achieve innovative information so as to develop efficient strategies for the handling of cardiac insufficiency” explained Dr. Díaz.
Thus, the results of the project on anexina A5 suggest that this molecule can serve to form an early diagnosis of cardiac damage in patients with hypertensive heart disease.
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