April 24, 2017
Georgia State: Researchers Get $2.8 Million Grant to Study Cause of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy
By LaTina Emerson, Georgia State University
Researchers from Georgia State University’s Center for Molecular & Translational Medicine have received a four-year, $2.8 million federal grant to study diabetic cardiomyopathy, diabetes-related changes in the structure and function of the heart muscle.
Cardiomyopathy occurs when the heart muscle becomes enlarged, stiffened, thinned out or filled with substances that don’t belong in the heart, reducing the heart’s ability to pump blood throughout the body. This can lead to irregular heartbeats, the backup of blood into the lungs or rest of the body and heart failure. Diabetes is linked to a higher risk of cardiomyopathy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Zhonglin Xie, associate professor, and Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, director of the center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine, will use the grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to investigate whether mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyocytes, cardiac muscle cells, is a central event in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Mitochondria generate energy for cells.
