Southampton research could lead to better treatments for cardiovascular disease

Published: 3 April 2012

Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered a new process that controls the ability of arteries to regulate blood pressure.

Arteries are able to control blood pressure by relaxing and constricting. In healthy people, the ability of arteries to relax or constrict is kept in balance. However, this balance shifts in people who are at risk of developing high blood pressure or atherosclerosis. There is more constriction within the arteries so blood cannot flow freely increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Researchers in Southampton, led by Dr Graham Burdge, Reader in Human Nutrition, have identified a new process that controls the ability of arteries to constrict, which could lead to a better understanding of the causes of cardiovascular disease and the development of new treatments.

In a study funded by the British Heart Foundation, which is published in PLoS ONE today (3 April 2012), researchers showed that polyunsaturated fats, which are converted into fat-like molecules called eicosanoids in order to make arteries constrict, are made by the muscle cells in the arteries rather than being taken up from blood, as previously thought.

By blocking the action of two enzymes that create polyunsaturated fats, the researchers were able to reduce the constriction of arteries allowing blood to flow more freely, therefore lowering the risk of high blood pressure.

The research also found that this process changed in arteries that showed the early signs of causing high blood pressure. They found changes in the epigenetic ‘switches' that control one of the key genes for making polyunsaturated fats, while another gene over-compensated for this change.

Dr Burdge comments: "This is an important finding. Cardiovascular disease is an increasing public health issue. In 2009, over 180,000 people died from cardiovascular disease in the UK - that is one in three of all deaths.

"Discovering a new process which controls how arteries work, and finding that it can be modified in the laboratory, raises a strong possibility for developing new medicines that may lead to better ways of treating cardiovascular disease. Currently, it is difficult for doctors to screen people at risk of cardiovascular disease before symptoms develop. However, a test based on the epigenetic changes we have found could provide a new way of screening people for risk of cardiovascular disease, and, in time, it might also be possible to correct this epigenetic defect."

Notes for editors

Notes for editors

1. A copy of the paper is available from Media Relations upon request. To read the study once published in PLoS ONE visit http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034492
2. Dr Graham Burdge is a Reader in Human Nutrition for the University of Southampton's Faculty of Medicine, which celebrates its 40 ^th anniversary this academic year (2011/12). Since it opened its medical school in 1971, the University of Southampton has gained an outstanding reputation for medical education, training thousands of doctors and scientists, and performing cutting edge research in areas as diverse as cancer, osteoporosis, asthma and nutrition. The Faculty of Medicine leads learning and discovery for better health across the lifecourse, frombefore birth to the elderly. There is also a strong focus on multi-disciplinary research with the physical sciences, including chemistry and engineering, and is one of the country's leading centres for clinical research, translating basic discoveries into clinical care inpartnership with the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
3. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.

With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of £435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.

The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus.
4. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the nation's heart charity, dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, patient care, campaigning for change and by providing vital information. But we urgently need help. We rely on donations of time and money to continue our life-saving work. Because together we can beat heart disease.

For further information contact: Becky Attwood , Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 5457, 07545422512, email: r.attwood@soton.ac.uk

Southampton research could lead to better treatments for cardiovascular disease

Notes for editors

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