Prognostic markers of diabetic patient outcome after AVR
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identification of prognostic circulating microRNA-based markers of diabetic patient outcome after aortic valve replacement surgery
IRAS ID
197749
Contact name
David Grieve
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
7 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The number of people with diabetes is rapidly increasing and is predicted to reach epidemic proportions. Diabetes itself is a leading cause of death with the major underlying factor being cardiovascular disease; indeed diabetic patients are ~4 times more likely to die from cardiovascular complications compared with non-diabetics. Consequently, the number of diabetic patients requiring cardiac surgery, such as coronary artery bypass or aortic valve replacement is increasing, and now represents ~25% of all such operations. Importantly, diabetic patients tend to fare worse than non-diabetics after cardiac surgery and are particularly prone to developing heart failure, but this is highly variable and is currently impossible to predict in individuals. The aim of this project is therefore to develop a blood test which will help doctors to understand the detailed composition and function of a diabetic patient’s heart prior to surgery to enable them to decide whether surgery is their best option or whether alternate treatments would be preferable. This is attractive as it would save certain diabetic patients from being subjected to unnecessary operations whilst increasing the likelihood that their heart conditions are treated more effectively, thereby improving survival and quality of life. We aim to do this by taking heart and blood samples from diabetic and non-diabetic patients undergoing cardiac surgery and comparing the levels of different genes in order to identify a specific blood profile which may be linked with better or worse outcomes. We will also perform detailed laboratory studies to understand the mechanisms by which different cell types in the diabetic heart communicate with each other and thereby drive disease development. We envisage the results of our work may lead to improvement in the clinical management of diabetic heart failure patients and also contribute to the development of new drug treatments.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
16/NI/0109
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion