U of U Health Researcher Receives NIH R01 Grant to Study Heart Disease in People with Diabetes
U of U Health Department of Surgery Associate Professor and Director of the Electrophysiology Program at the Nora Eccles Harrison Cardiovascular Research and Training Institute Ademuyiwa Aromolaran, PhD, FHRS, FAHA, has been awarded a $3.1 million National Institute of Health (NIH) R01 grant titled, “Leukotriene B4 Regulation in Heart.”
While many studies related to type 2 diabetes focus on curing or improving management of glucose levels, many patients suffer from secondary issues related to the disease, with some that lead to sudden cardiac death. Aromolaran hopes to address these issues, starting with heart arrhythmias.
"Type 2 diabetes patients often succumb to sudden cardiac death, and we believe irregular heartbeats, particularly in the ventricle system, play a significant role," said Aromolaran. "Our goal is to understand how certain factors related to type 2 diabetes release these toxic mediators that cause cardiac dysfunction, allowing us to find potential treatment options."
Patients with type 2 diabetes are at a 50% higher risk of developing fatal ventricular arrhythmias, which cannot currently be cured when caused by a chronic illness or disease. When diabetic patients develop this type of arrhythmia, it can cause severe issues, including heart failure.
The key data provided from Aromolaran’s research could provide the foundation for clinical treatment advancements that would significantly improve the quality of life and survival rates for millions of patients with diabetes and obesity.
The award will provide funding over the next five years, allowing Aromolaran to advance research examining the occurrence of high levels of the proinflammatory lipid mediator, leukotriene B4, in patients with type 2 diabetes who also suffer from fatal ventricular heart arrhythmias.
Similar issues, such as congenital ventricular arrhythmias, are often treated with medication that reduces the levels of leukotriene B4, thus preventing the arrhythmia from advancing to a fatal stage. However, the medications used to treat congenital issues have not been approved for non-congenital cases, such as those related to diabetes – something Aromolaran hopes to change.
“When I first began researching, I realized there may be similarities between the cause of congenital arrhythmias and those caused by chronic illnesses like diabetes,” Aromolaran said. “So, if we can treat congenital cases with medications, then with enough data, we can do the same for patients with type 2 diabetes who develop the same type of arrhythmias.”
With the funding from the grant now in place, research will progress in three stages, building on the preliminary data already collected. Aromolaran and his team will begin by continued examination of isolated heart cells treated with diabetes risk factors, followed by preclinical in-vitro cellular model studies, and finally, validation with human samples. This comprehensive approach aims to uncover if and how these factors lead to arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
If each stage of the study goes well, the team will then move on to achieving the primary goal of the research: creating new experimental insights and inform clinical treatments for prevention. Aromolaran hopes that his research can lead to future clinical trials, allowing medical providers to utilize existing drugs to treat and prevent life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias in diabetic patients.
"This research could revolutionize the way we treat diabetic patients at risk of arrhythmias," Aromolaran said. "By combining treatment strategies, we can offer a multifaceted approach to managing diabetes and preventing sudden cardiac death, and, ultimately, finding cures."