Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Stroke kills thousands of Canadians each year. Those who survive may suffer from various disabilities severely affecting their quality of life and that of their caregivers. Stroke also creates a burden on the Canadian health care system. Strokes can be caused by the build-up of dangerous fatty deposits, called plaques, in the carotid arteries of the neck that supply blood to the brain. Pieces of plaque can break-off, travel to the brain and cause strokes. It is important to find out early when the plaque becomes dangerous to break-off. However, we only know for sure if a plaque is dangerous when it is removed after surgery and checked under a microscope. Thus, we need to better understand what causes some plaques to become dangerous, while others remain harmless. In this study we will examine the role of adiponectin in dangerous and harmless plaques. Adiponectin is a substance in the body that when elevated prevents diabetes, obesity and heart disease and may protect our arteries from developing plaques. It works beneficially in the cells by attaching to its receptors. We will obtain blood and carotid plaques from patients who are having a surgery to remove the plaques in their carotid arteries. We will examine the plaques under a microscope to classify them as dangerous or harmless. Using advanced laboratory methods, we will check if there are differences in adiponectin and its receptors between dangerous and harmless plaques. Since adiponectin is known to be a protective substance, we believe that adiponectin and its receptors will be less present in the dangerous plaques. This study could help us understand the role adiponectin plays in these dangerous plaques, may lead us to develop treatments in the future that turn the dangerous plaques to harmless, as well as help better select patients for surgical removal of carotid plaques. This not only will reduce the burden on our health care system but most importantly will help prevent strokes and save many lives!