FOAMI v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the effect of Myocardial Infarction on Platelet-Induced Monocyte Phenotype and Foam Cell Formation (FOAMI Study)
IRAS ID
214176
Contact name
Alison Goodall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 29 days
Research summary
Atherosclerosis is the progressive build-up of fatty material (plaque) within the walls of the vessels that supply the heart (coronary arteries) and other organs. The build-up of plaque is due to monocytes, a type of white cell in the circulation, which move into atherosclerotic sites. They accumulate fats and become known as foam cells which are crucial to the growth of the plaque. As these plaques become advanced and break, this is a strong signal for the activation of another type of cell known as platelets. Their role is to form clots but when this happens in an already narrowed coronary artery, the vessel gets blocked leading to muscle death known as myocardial infarction (MI) or heart attack.
We have found in our laboratory that, in addition to forming clots, platelets are also able to interact with monocytes, through a range of mechanisms, to ‘persuade’ them to become foam cells. This has important therapeutic implications as most of the treatments used in MI are directed against the ability of platelets to form clots. If it can be shown that platelets can also affect the behaviour of monocytes to promote atherosclerosis, then this will open up new therapeutic avenues. We therefore want to find out if activated platelets change the behaviour of monocytes following MI.
We propose a laboratory-based study where blood will be sampled from patients admitted acutely with MI and also at a follow-up appointment (3 months) when they have recovered. We aim to describe the behaviour of platelets and monocytes in detail to see if our laboratory findings are relevant to patients with heart disease. The study will not affect their clinical managements nor will it benefit participants directly, but it will greatly add to our understanding of heart disease and ways to treat it.REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0031
Date of REC Opinion
14 Feb 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion