The Role Of Androgens In Angiogenesis And Endothelial Progenitor Cell Mobilisation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,591.00
Summary
The Role of Male Sex Hormones in Regulating New Blood Vessel Growth AIMS This proposed project seeks to investigate the role that male sex hormones (androgens) play in: 1) Regulating new blood vessel growth 2) Mobilising cells from the bone marrow which assist in blood vessel repair and growth. BACKGROUND Increasing evidence indicates that the heart and blood vessels are able to repair themselves in response to disease. For example, when a coronary artery becomes severely narrow as a result of d ....The Role of Male Sex Hormones in Regulating New Blood Vessel Growth AIMS This proposed project seeks to investigate the role that male sex hormones (androgens) play in: 1) Regulating new blood vessel growth 2) Mobilising cells from the bone marrow which assist in blood vessel repair and growth. BACKGROUND Increasing evidence indicates that the heart and blood vessels are able to repair themselves in response to disease. For example, when a coronary artery becomes severely narrow as a result of disease, the body can partially compensate by making new blood vessels in a process termed angiogenesis. Recently, cells circulating in the blood stream have been found to have the ability to assist in angiogenesis and in blood vessel repair. These cells, which come from the bone marrow, are called endothelial progenitor cells. Endothelial progenitor cells are therefore an important part of the cardiovascular system's ability to repair and maintain itself. While men are more likely to develop coronary artery disease than women, men are also more likely to have a favourable outcome after a heart attack compared to women. This gender difference after heart attacks, suggests that sex hormones such as the androgens, may play a role in the reparative response after a heart attack. In fact, there is evidence from some studies in cells and in animals that androgens increase blood vessel formation. RESEARCH PLAN We will study the effects of androgens on angiogenesis and in mobilising endothelial progenitor cells using human cells, animal studies and in a human clinical trial SIGNIFICANCE This research will help us further understand the differences between men and women in heart disease. It will also help us understand more about the risks-benefits of androgen replacement in older men.Read moreRead less
Drinking Patterns, Gender And Social Roles In Alcohol Problems In Victoria, In An International Comparative Context
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$342,239.00
Summary
The varied impacts of drinking in the family and other gendered relations are an important and understudied aspect of alcohol studies, with general social and policy implications. The proposed research will make an important contribution to developing quantitative research in this area in Australia. The project uses concepts and measures which are novel in an Australian environment, and the international comparative aspect of the project, with comparable questionnaires in a wide diversity of soc ....The varied impacts of drinking in the family and other gendered relations are an important and understudied aspect of alcohol studies, with general social and policy implications. The proposed research will make an important contribution to developing quantitative research in this area in Australia. The project uses concepts and measures which are novel in an Australian environment, and the international comparative aspect of the project, with comparable questionnaires in a wide diversity of societies, is novel and innovative for the alcohol research field in general. Measures of social problems from drinking, and particularly and family and relationship, developed in analysing the study material will be made more broadly available for use in future studies, raising the possibility that the study may serve as a first measurement point for future data-series over time.Read moreRead less
Is Periosteal Bone Formation Responsible For Sexual Dimorphism In Bone Fragility
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$316,320.00
Summary
Men and women sustain fractures as they age because their bones become fragile. Women sustain fractures more often than men. Bone thinning occurs in both sexes but it is usually believed that this thinning or loss of bone is greater in women than men. We have evidence to suggest that this may not be correct. In fact, it is likely that men and women lose a similar amount of bone, about half what they started with, but during ageing, men lay down more bone on the outside surface of the bone than w ....Men and women sustain fractures as they age because their bones become fragile. Women sustain fractures more often than men. Bone thinning occurs in both sexes but it is usually believed that this thinning or loss of bone is greater in women than men. We have evidence to suggest that this may not be correct. In fact, it is likely that men and women lose a similar amount of bone, about half what they started with, but during ageing, men lay down more bone on the outside surface of the bone than women compensating for the similar amount lost on the inside of the bone. We also have evidence to suggest than men and women who get spine fractures do so because the process of laying down bone may fail to occur normally. We will study these processes of bone loss inside the bone and bone gain outside the bone to try to better understand why bones become weak. We will measure the bone size and its density in healthy men and women and patients with fractures to determine how the increasing size of the bone produced by laying down bone on its outside helps to keep it strong and to preserve the bone that would otherwise be lost if it didn't occur or if a disease developed that might reduce the compensatoryRead moreRead less
Does Pregnancy Cause Morphological Changes In Central As Well As Peripheral Nerve Pathways That Control Blood Pressure?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$382,538.00
Summary
Pregnancy changes blood pressure but the mechanism is unknown. We will use state-of-the-art anatomical methods to define how pregnancy alters nerves controlling blood pressure. We will identify changes in the information the nerve cells receive, in their shape and in the way they communicate with other blood pressure-controlling nerve cells. This information will help to develop new ways to prevent and treat pre-eclampsia, a major cause of death and disability for mothers and their newborns.
Structural And Biomechanical Basis Of Differences In Bone Fragility In Asian And Caucasian Men And Women
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$188,500.00
Summary
Lay Summary Fractures occur less commonly in males than females because males have greater periosteal apposition than females during ageing. This increases bone size (reducing load per unit area - stress), and reduces net bone loss, more in males than females so that the increase in bone fragility with advancing age seen in both sexes is less in males than females. Few males than females have a fracture risk index for vertebral fractures (FRI or ratio of load-bone strength) above unity. The purp ....Lay Summary Fractures occur less commonly in males than females because males have greater periosteal apposition than females during ageing. This increases bone size (reducing load per unit area - stress), and reduces net bone loss, more in males than females so that the increase in bone fragility with advancing age seen in both sexes is less in males than females. Few males than females have a fracture risk index for vertebral fractures (FRI or ratio of load-bone strength) above unity. The purpose of this study is to define the structural and biomechanical basis responsible for the racial differences in fracture rates between Asians and Caucasians. Following the same biomechanical principles as published in Caucasian males and females, we hypothesise that racial differences in periosteal expansion during aging may contribute, in part, to the racial differences in bone fragility at the spine and hip. A cross-sectional study will be conducted in 500 healthy Chinese men and 500 Chinese women age ranged 18 to 90 years living in Melbourne, Australia. We have recruited larger numbers of Caucasian men and women in our Centre. BMD and bone size will be measured at the spine, hip and total body by using dual x-ray bone densitometer (DXA). Vertebral body width, depth, height, cross-sectional area (CSA), stress (load per unit CSA) and fracture risk index (load-strength) at the third lumbar vertebrae will be measured by PA and lateral scanning. Femoral neck periosteal-endocortical diameter, cortical thickness, cross-section moment of inertia (CSMI), section modulus buckling index will be measured by using hip structural analysis program. Just as insight into bone fragility in women has been obtained by studies in men, we believe that the results of this study will provide important insights into the pathogenesis of bone fragility in both racial groups.Read moreRead less
Morphometric Analysis Of Normal Airway Structure In Childhood And The Influence Of A History Of Asthma On This Structure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$186,113.00
Summary
The architectural structure of the airways of the lung is thought to have profound effects on airway function. Changes in this structure are believed to be partly responsible for limiting the flow of air into the lung in conditions such as constant wheezing, bronchitis and asthma. Pathological studies carried out on adult lungs have shown that the structure of the airways is indeed altered in patients with lung disease when compared with patients with no history of breathing difficulties. For ex ....The architectural structure of the airways of the lung is thought to have profound effects on airway function. Changes in this structure are believed to be partly responsible for limiting the flow of air into the lung in conditions such as constant wheezing, bronchitis and asthma. Pathological studies carried out on adult lungs have shown that the structure of the airways is indeed altered in patients with lung disease when compared with patients with no history of breathing difficulties. For example, the walls of the airways are much thicker in patients with lung disease. This thickening means that the airways are much narrower and therefore not able to carry as much air as in people with healthy lungs. In addition, the muscle within the airway wall, which is normally very sparse, is much denser in people with asthma and bronchitis. Thus, the airways can be squeezed closed more easily. It is not known if these changes are present in children who have lung disease. X-rays and sophisticated breathing tests suggest that these children may also have thicker walls and more muscle in their airways. The major difficulties in assessing whether such changes are present in children, is the lack of information on the normal structure in infants; how this changes as they grow to adulthood; or if there are any gender differences. This project aims to obtain this information from the airways of male and female children from 0-18 years. This information can then be used as a basis for comparison with the structure found in children with lung disease, in particular asthma, and therefore assist in making assessments as to the cause of their breathing difficulties. With more knowledge about these causes, we will be in a better position to design new and better treatments and produce ways of preventing them ever occurring.Read moreRead less