IU School of Medicine Research Presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions

Indianapolis - Several cardiology researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine will present findings from their current research at the 71st Annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting in Dallas, November 8-11. The meeting is the world's largest gathering of scientists, physicians and health professionals involved in research and treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Listed below are highlights of the some of the IU research being presented at the meeting.

Police officers may be the key to saving lives of cardiac arrest victims. The Police As Responder Automated Defibrillation Evaluation (PARADE) trial is investigating whether training and equipping police officers with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) is an effective way to achieve rapid defibrillation in cardiac arrest victims in a semi-rural setting. Since police officers are frequently the first on the scene, they have a unique opportunity to act within the first crucial minutes following cardiac arrest. Preliminary data from the PARADE study suggests that police arrive at the scene of an emergency four minutes sooner than EMS personnel do. Early response and defibrillation is imperative for the survival of cardiac arrest victims. Five Indiana counties are currently participating in the trial (Hamilton, Shelby, Delaware, Marshall and Howard). Three lives have been saved by early police response since the trial began last year. William Groh, MD, assistant professor of medicine, is the principal investigator. Mary Newman is the research coordinator.

A bath for the heart? Researchers say that injecting prescribed drugs directly into the pericardium sac around the heart, so that they bathe the heart, may provide a longer lasting and much more reproducible therapeutic effect than traditional drug delivery. Researchers also are looking at this method as a gene therapy technique. According to principal investigator Keith March, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, the ultimate goal would be to eliminate the need for bypass surgery by delivering growth factor to the pericardium that would stimulate the natural growth of new blood vessels when old vessels become clogged. Dr. March invented the intrapericardial drug delivery approach in collaboration with Douglas Zipes, M.D., distinguished professor of medicine and director of the Krannert Institute of Cardiology.

New technique invented at IU may improve the outcome for patients with clogged arteries. Researchers have developed a technique that uses a radioactive isotope as a source of radiation to unclog arteries and potentially protect the arteries from restenosis (re-clogging). The isotope delivers a non-toxic dose of radiation directly to the artery and has a half-life of only sixty-seven minutes. Current techniques use a radioactive wire or liquid to deliver radiation to arteries. The alternative liquid sources used currently provide a significant risk, however, because the radioactivity is long lasting. Keith March, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, is the principal investigator and inventor of the technique.

Helping the heart regenerate lost tissue is the focus of study for Loren Field, Ph.D., professor of medicine. Most forms of heart disease are typified by cardiac muscle loss, which is due to cell death in the tissue. The heart cannot regenerate lost tissue and as a result continues to weaken. Field and his colleagues are investigating ways to promote natural cell growth or a technique to graft donor cells in a sick heart in order to regenerate tissue and strengthen muscle mass.

Too much calsequestrin, a protein in the heart, may cause heart failure in humans. Larry Jones, M.D., Ph.D., the Charles Fisch Professor of Cardiology, conducts basic research on key proteins in the heart that regulate intracellular calcium concentration and the strength of the heartbeat. The function of calsequestrin is to act as a storage depot for calcium in cardiac cells. Electrical stimulation of the heart causes calsequestrin to release this stored calcium and initiate muscle contraction. Dr. Jones and his colleagues found that mice that overproduce calsequestrin in the heart develop cardiac hypertrophy (enlarged hearts) and heart failure. The mice died at an early age and exhibited many of the symptoms commonly encountered in humans with failing hearts.

Contact: Ellen Gullett
(317) 274-7722
egullett@iupui.edu

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