Using BVOs to understand CMD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Blood vessel organoids to understand disease mechanisms of coronary microvascular dysfunction and to develop personalised therapies
IRAS ID
346698
Contact name
Divaka Perera
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Chest pain on exertion, or angina, is traditionally thought of as being caused by narrowings within large blood vessels supplying the heart visible on an angiogram (a special X-ray where dye is injected into the arteries). However, half of all patients undergoing an angiogram have normal large blood vessels and the problem often lies in abnormal small blood vessel function, known as “small vessel angina”. Whilst we can now diagnose small vessel angina using special measuring wires during the angiogram procedure, it is unclear whether different types of small vessel angina respond better to different therapies. The ability to test which therapies would be effective for treating a patient’s angina using just a blood sample remains an exciting prospect that we wish to study.Using a patient’s blood sample, scientists at King’s College London are able to produce a living model of their individual blood vessels, known as a blood vessel organoid (BVO). This BVO allows us to visualise changes at a cellular level and identify what drug therapy would be best suited for that patient.
The opportunity to truly personalise therapies at an individual and cellular level is promising, as often patients with small vessel angina need to trial many different medications, and despite this many will continue to have symptoms long-term. Whilst this technique has been shown to work in patients with diabetes and several other conditions, it has not yet been tested in patients with small vessel angina.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0247
Date of REC Opinion
28 Apr 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion