Translational Research in Hypertension and Cardiorenal Disease

Description

The Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk group is a consolidated research group led by Dr. Luis Miguel Ruilope and Dra. Gema Ruiz Hurtado. It is formed of clinical care researchers as well as basic/experimental researchers with extensive experience in the physiopathology and pharmacology of arterial hypertension, renal disease, heart and calcium handling of adult cardiomyocytes. The combination of clinical and basic point of views allows the translational approach of the group’s research in the field of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Merits: Dr. Luis Miguel Ruilope was considered one of the most influential scientific minds in the world within the field of Clinical Medicine (Thomson Reuters), and Dra. Gema Ruiz Hurtado has been awarded with the Luis Hernando project for young investigators granted by Iñigo Alvarez de Toledo Foundation (FRIAT).

The general objectives of the group are:

1. Research on new predictive markers of cardiovascular disease that allow stratification of the patient’s cardiovascular risk in an early and personalized manner.
2. Research on cellular signaling pathways involved in cardiovascular and renal diseases, especially those that have a determining role in different systems: cardiac, vascular and renal system.
3. Research on intracellular calcium handling in the adult cardiomyocytes isolated from hearts of animal models of cardiovascular and renal diseases.

The specific objectives of the group are:

1. The progression of cardiovascular and renal risk during chronic suppression of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, considering the development of albuminuria as damage indicator on:
   1. Hypertensive patients from the Hypertension Unit of the Nephrology Service of Hospital 12 de octubre.
   2. Animal models of albuminuria development.
2. The role oxidative stress and vascular remodeling markers in resistant hypertension, which encompasses the highest cardiovascular and renal risk due to its difficult control.
3. The role of predictors of response and evolution in the short- and long-term follow-up of resistant hypertension controlled with spironolactone or with renal sympathetic denervation.
4. The role of oxidative stress in the development and progression of cardiovascular and renal risk in relation to age and the stratification of cardiovascular risk.
5. The role of different pharmacological treatments on the modification of albuminuria and of the predictors and markers in hypertensive subjects and in the experimental model of albuminuria development:
   1. Specific antagonists of the aldosterone receptor.
   2. Angiotensin receptor agonists AT2.
   3. Vitamin D.
   4. Others.
6. The influence of obesity on all previous aspects.
7. Cardiovascular alterations resulting from acute and chronic kidney disease:
   1. Animal models of chronic kidney disease: Nephrectomy 5/6.
   2. Animal models of acute renal failure.
   3. Patients with renal pathologies: AKI, CKD, ESRD and dialysis.
8. Alterations of cardiac function in cardiovascular diseases:
   1. Animal models of acute myocardial infarction.
   2. Patients with acute cardiac pathologies.