Grant: Operating Grant

Despite optimal drug regimen, coronary disease remains the highest cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, giving birth to heart attack and stroke. The aims of the present proposal are to characterize the cardioprotective effects of a new class of drugs, acting through a receptor called CD36. We have obtained preliminary evidence, in a mouse model of heart attack, that these drugs may reduce the size of the damage to the heart after infarction. In the present study, we will identify the effects of these drugs on cardiac function and characterize the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying their beneficial action. Considering the aging population and the steady increase in heart disease and its complications, effective and novel therapeutic strategies are thus warranted.