Maternal Ophthalmic Artery Doppler Waveform Analysis In The Assessment And Management Of Pre-eclampsia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$94,758.00
Summary
Pre-eclampsia is the commonest serious medical problem in pregnancy. Mothers who have this condition are at risk of seizures, stroke and other neurological problems, which can cause death or long-term morbidity. Treatments for pre-eclampsia aim to prevent these problems. Through ultrasound imaging of a blood vessel at the back of the eye, this study will provide new insights into how these treatments change the brain's blood supply in mothers with pre-eclampsia.
Linking Of Physiological Models Of Iv Anaesthetic Disposition With Models Of The Cardio- And Cerebro-vascular Systems
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$227,036.00
Summary
On average, nearly 1 in 10 Australians are anaesthetised each year. Most cases include an injection of either thiopentone or propofol directly into a vein. These drugs quickly produce the desired loss of consciousness, but can also produce significant undesirable effects on the circulatory system. To date, anaesthetists have relied on their accumulated experience to choose doses of these drugs that achieve an appropriate balance between their desirable and undesirable effects. However, the scien ....On average, nearly 1 in 10 Australians are anaesthetised each year. Most cases include an injection of either thiopentone or propofol directly into a vein. These drugs quickly produce the desired loss of consciousness, but can also produce significant undesirable effects on the circulatory system. To date, anaesthetists have relied on their accumulated experience to choose doses of these drugs that achieve an appropriate balance between their desirable and undesirable effects. However, the scientific basis of this process was poorly understood. Consequently, we conducted experiments in sheep in which we showed that the level of unconsciousness produced by these drugs depended on their concentration in the brain. Each sheep was unharmed and could be studied repeatedly. We established the important factors that influenced this brain concentration, and developed a unique computer model of the processes governing the desirable effects of thiopentone and propofol. However, understanding of what influences the undesirable effects of these drugs is less well developed. In this project, we propose a series of experiments in which we inject the thiopentone and propofol in special sites within the sheep so that we achieve low concentrations in some parts of the body, but high concentrations in others, while also measuring their undesirable effects. This will show which sites in the body high concentrations of drug should be avoided to minimise these undesirable effects. Another series of studies will be used to extend our computer model so that it can predict these undesirable effects. This extended model will allow anaesthetists to visualise and understand the fundamental factors influencing both the desirable and undesirable effects of thiopentone and propofol. This in turn will lead to dose strategies that help the anaesthetist maximise the desirable effects, while minimising the undesirable, in individual patients.Read moreRead less
A Study Of Mechanisms Of Cognitive Decline In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$510,222.00
Summary
Diabetes mellitus and dementia are major public health problems. Diabetes may increase the risk of dementia. This study aims to uncover the mechanism by which diabetes may increase dementia risk. This may lead to finding new ways to prevent or treat diabetes-related dementia and thus reduce the public health burden of dementia.
Targeting Aldosterone Receptors In Cerebrovascular Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$857,712.00
Summary
Stroke represents a major health (accounting for 6% of all deaths) and economic (costs Australia $2.14 billion per year) burden on society, thus clearly more effective treatments are needed. This project will investigate the role of two substances produced in the body – angiotensin II and aldosterone – in stroke outcome, and whether targeting their receptor(s) may prevent poor outcomes following stroke.
Life-saving chemo/radio-therapy commonly renders women and girls who survivor cancer infertile or sterile. We have discovered a new means of preserving the fertility of female mice exposed to chemo/radio therapy. In this project we will apply these advances to human ovarian tissue/eggs for the first time. We have access to these rare tissues for research purposes. This project will develop new approaches to fertility preservation for cancer survivors.
Dangerous Dreams: The Next Era In Paediatric Sleep Research
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,238,220.00
Summary
The amount of time and the quality of our sleep affects every aspect of our health and well-being. The amount of time we sleep is maximal in infants and children because it is promotes normal brain development. Sleep problems affect nearly half of all children and adversely affect both learning and blood pressure. The proposed studies will identify and improve treatment of sleep problems to improve overall physical health and quality of life for these children and their families.
Female Reproductive Health Preservation By Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) And Sirtuin2 (SIRT2)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,983.00
Summary
Cancer treatment can be severely toxic to women’s eggs. Increasing numbers of women who survive cancer therefore become infertile and prematurely deprived of hormonal support whilst still in their reproductive years. This project will use state-of-the-art techniques to interrogate newly uncovered pathways that can protect eggs from treatment-induced injury thereby greatly improving the quality of life for female cancer survivors.
Nox4-containing NADPH-oxidase As A Protective Enzyme In The Cerebral Circulation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$515,812.00
Summary
Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in a stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent research at the basic level to better understand the processes of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of brain artery function. The project will test the importance of a newly discovered mechanism for increasing brain blood flow. This involves activa ....Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in a stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent research at the basic level to better understand the processes of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of brain artery function. The project will test the importance of a newly discovered mechanism for increasing brain blood flow. This involves activation of an enzyme, Nox4-containing NADPH-oxidase, to generate oxygen radicals which then relax the wall of blood vessels causing the arteries to let more blood through. We believe that this process plays an important role in the normal, healthy maintenance of blood supply to the brain. Furthermore, we propose that the activity of this enzyme is elevated and therefore protective in brain arteries during high blood presure - which is the major risk factor for stroke. We will specifically test whether the activity of this enzyme actually helps to limit the amount of brain death following stroke. We will use a variety of techniques to assess the importance of this enzyme in brain arteries in the living body, and also in isolated segments of brain artery from animals that are either healthy or have diseased brain arteries. The results are expected to provide major new insight into processes that help maintain brain blood flow under normal conditions and after a stroke, and the knowledge gained here should lead to safer therapies to prevent or treat stroke.Read moreRead less
MECHANISMS OF CEREBROVASCULAR REGULATION IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$216,430.00
Summary
Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent and significant research at the basic level to better understand mechanisms of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of cerebral artery function. The project will examine the importance of a novel mechanism in regulating brain blood flow by affecting the ....Failure of the cerebral circulation to meet the brain's immediate high nutritive requirements results in stroke in just a few minutes. Stroke continues to be a major cause of death and disability, and this major medical challenge requires urgent and significant research at the basic level to better understand mechanisms of normal, and then abnormal, regulation of cerebral artery function. The project will examine the importance of a novel mechanism in regulating brain blood flow by affecting the degree of opening of the cerebral arteries. This mechanism involves activation of an enzyme, Rho-kinase, which is present in the wall of blood vessels. The applicants believe that this process plays an important role in the normal, healthy regulation of blood supply to the brain. Moreover, there are strong reasons for us to speculate that the function of this enzyme is abnormally high in two disease states that are associated with an increased risk of stroke - high blood pressure and subarachnoid haemorrhage. We will employ a variety of techniques to assess the importance of Rho-kinase in cerebral artery function in the living body, and also in isolated segments of artery. The results are expected to provide major new insight into mechanisms that regulate brain blood flow, and the knowledge gained here may lead to better therapies to prevent or treat stroke.Read moreRead less