Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2012

Mentor:  Qi Fu, M.D., Ph.D.                       
Department:  Cardiology Division, Internal Medicine              
Room number:  Off Campus (at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine)
Mail Code:  Address – 7232 Greenville, Ave., Suite 435, Dallas, Texas 75231                   
Phone number:  214-345-8125 (office)  
E-mail:  QiFu@TexasHealth.org              
Project title:  Hypertension and Antihypertensive Therapy in Elderly Women                    

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  STU 102010-072    

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):  N/A    

Project Type:  Patient-based research

Brief Description of Project:  Hypertension is a major public health problem worldwide affecting over 50 million Americans.  It is a major risk factor for target organ damage resulting in coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease.  Large epidemiological surveys have shown that more elderly women than men have hypertension.  Whether this specific effect of sex is grounded in equally specific pathophysiology which could “personalize” the selection of antihypertensive therapy and improve the response to treatment is unknown.  The primary goal of this research proposal is to determine the mechanisms underlying sex differences in hypertension in sedentary seniors (i.e., ³65 years old).  Using the innovative techniques of microneurography, Doppler ultrasound, and tonometry, Specific Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that sympathetic neural activity is augmented in elderly hypertensive women.  Autonomic function tests will be performed; sympathetic neural responses, vasoconstrictor capability, transduction of sympathetic traffic into vascular resistance, and baroreflex function will be compared in elderly normotensive and hypertensive men and women.  Specific Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that ventricular-arterial stiffening is more prominent in elderly hypertensive women than men.  Pulse wave velocity, dynamic systolic arterial elastance, aortic artery augmentation pressure and index, total arterial compliance, cardiac size, and aortic pulsative dimensions will be compared between normotensive and hypertensive men and women.  Upon completion of this project, we will have obtained novel and clinically important information regarding the nature of hypertension associated with aging and sex.  We will identify the mechanisms underlying sex differences in hypertension, which may lead to more effective therapies for this particularly patient population. 

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

 
Jarvis SS, VanGundy TB, Lalani HS, Shibata S, Meier RL, Okada Y, Casey BM, Levine BD, and Fu Q.  Sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity is not altered from pre- to early pregnancy in healthy humans. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 43:5, 2011.