Cardiovascular Diseases
Cardiocirculatory Pathology
David García-Dorado
Principal investigator Ignasi Barba Vert, José Antonio Barrabés Riu, Arturo Evangelista Masip, Ignacio Ferreira González, Javier Inserte Igual, Jose Fernando Rodríguez Palomares, Antonio Rodríguez Sinovas, Marisol Ruiz Meana, Antonia Sambola Ayala | Researchers Juan Gabriel Acosta Velez, Francesc Xavier Armengol Castells, Jordi Bañeras Rius, Neus Bellera Gotarda, José Antonio Castellano Abarca, Amanda Denuc Isern, Enric Domingo Ribas, Laura Dos Subirá, Ruben Fernández Galera, Jaume Figueras Bellot, Laura Galián Gay, Enrique Galve Basilio, Bruno García del Blanco, Josep Maria Girona Comas, Teresa González Alujas, Andrea Guala, Laura Gutierrez García-Moreno, Rosa María Lidón Corbi, Gerard Marti Aguasca, Angel Moya Mitjans, Imanol Otaegui Irurueta, Jordi Perez Rodon, Gaietà Permanyer Miralda, Antonia Pijuan Domenech, Josep Pinar Sopena, Marcos Poncelas Nozal, Nuria Rivas Gandara, Ivo Roca Luque, Jaume Sagristà Sauleda, Vicente Serra García, Gisela Teixido Tura, Pilar Tornos Mas | Researchers in training David Aluja Gonzalez, Mireia Andres Villarreal, Mº Ángeles Carmona Ramírez, Jaume Francisco Pascual, Gabriel Martín Sánchez, Elisabet Miro Casas, Agnès Rafecas Ventosa, Alba Santos Ortega, Laura Valls de Lacalle, Úrsula Vilardosa Vila | Nursing, Technical, and Administrative Staff Anna Casanovas Hernandez, Purificación Cascant Castelló, Rosalia Coronado González, Lydia Dux-Santoy Hurtado, Maria Teresa Fernandez Taranilla, Úrsula Gimeno Mañas, Daniel Gómez García, Mercè López Grau, Giuliana Maldonado Herrera, Josep Ramon Marsal Mora, Marta Minguet Sánchez, Berta Miranda Barrio, Aida Ribera Solé, Ángeles Rojas López, Marta Tarazona Benitez
Summary
During 2015 our group published several important pre-clinical studies. We described a new approach to limit reperfusion injury in patients based in the combination of therapeutic interventions with different mechanisms of action and additive effects on infarct size reduction, and identified an important mechanisms of cardiac ageing and decreased tolerance to ischemia in aged hearts: the altered communication between mitochondria and sarcoplasmic reticulum. We also published important clinical studies, including the results of an independent clinical trial on the treatment to prevent aortic dilation in Marfan patients: the first CMRI-based, double blind, placebo-controlled comparison between losartan and propanolol, with overall neutral results. In other important study we demonstrated the usefulness of PET-CT in the diagnosis and characterization of endocaritis in patients with prosthetic devices.
2015 witnessed the start of important projects of pre-clinical and clinical research, including laboratory studies on the mechanisms of advanced glycation end-products in cardiac ageing, a multicentric international trial on the effect of combination therapy in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, and a multicentric clinical trial on the effect of statins in patients with aortic biscupid valves.
The creation of the Research Area on Vascular Biology and Metabolism, including VHIR research groups on cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, and nuclear medicine was an important accomplishement during 2015, and a milestone in the progression of our institution.