VA Maryland Health Care System Surgeon and Researcher Finds Way to Prevent Vascular Scarring
BALTIMORE, Md. (PRWEB) November 19, 2015 -- Dr. Thomas S. Monahan, a surgeon at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, has successfully found a way to prevent intimal hyperplasia—or thickening within arteries-- by identifying and successfully blocking a protein associated with the scarring process. His paper titled, “MARCKS Signaling Differentially Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle and Endothelial Cell Proliferation through a KIS-, p27kip1- Dependent Mechanism,” in the Nov. 3 issue of the Public Library of Science (PLOS) Journals, could change the way heart disease is treated by possibly leading to the replacement of drug-eluting stents and drug coated balloons.
“We’re excited that one of our surgeons has discovered a protein associated with pathologic scarring and found a way to block it. This is a monumental find that can change the way some cardiovascular diseases are treated,” said Dr. Adam M. Robinson, Jr. director of the VA Maryland Health Care System. “This kind of scarring can occur after any cardiovascular bypass surgery or stent placement, and eliminating it can save the lives of our veteran patients.”
In mouse studies, Monahan, the 2013 Wylie Scholar in Academic Surgery to Vascular Cures, found that the protein—myristoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate (MARCKS)—causes the thickening or scarring process to occur in vascular diseases such as restenosis after bypass surgery. Using siRNA-mediated MARCKS knockdown, Dr. Monahan has proven that interruption of this pathway prevents the proliferative response seen after arterial reconstruction, but also increases the restoration rate of a normal blood vessel lining, or re-endothelialization.
“The scarring—or thickening of the innermost layer of the blood vessel—occurs when vascular smooth muscle cells first migrate to the intima and then proliferate at a high rate,” said Dr. Thomas Monahan, an attending vascular surgeon at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, a recipient of the VA Career Development Award, and an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “This thickening within the vessels limits the durability of the original procedure by blocking the blood flow, in essence becoming a blockage itself, and it can lead to other things like thrombosis or clotting of the vessel.”
Dr. Christopher Bever, associate chief of staff for Research and Development at the VA Maryland Health Care System, director of the VA Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence – East, and a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said, “Vascular disease is an important problem in the veteran population, and Dr. Monahan’s study points to a new approach to treatment that could be of great benefit for our patients.”
With more than 81 million Americans suffering from cardiovascular disease, bypass surgeries and angioplasty procedures have become routine. Performed to redirect the flow of blood around arterial blockages, these procedures, which the body considers traumatic, give rise to scar tissue forming in the blood vessels, a condition known as intimal hyperplasia. Intimal hyperplasia can limit the outcomes of original procedures such as bypass and angioplasty because the thickening or scarring within the arteries can itself cause blockages, and to counteract this outcome, drug-eluting stents and drug-coated balloons are used to try to circumvent or prevent the scarring. Unfortunately, these drug-coated agents also inhibit other cells from growing and cause increased bleeding complications. Currently, drug-eluting stents prevent the restoration of a normal blood vessel lining, and consequently patients who have these stents need to be on powerful blood thinning medications indefinitely.
“This is a remarkable and potentially very important observation,” said Robin Pierson, professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a staff surgeon at the Baltimore VA Medical Center. “Differentially targeting MARCKS in various compartments of the artery wall may eventually lead to new drug or gene therapy treatments for patients with atherosclerosis.”
PLOS, a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization, publishes a suite of Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine. Articles are rigorously reported, peer-reviewed and immediately available, free of restrictions, promoting the widest readership and impact – more than 11.6 million article views and 1.9 million downloads monthly.
Editors’ Note: To arrange an interview with Dr. Thomas Monahan, please call Rosalia Scalia at 410.605.7464 or email her at rosalia.scalia(at)va(dot)gov.
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The VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS) provides a broad spectrum of medical, surgical, rehabilitative, mental health and outpatient care to Veterans at two medical centers, one community living & rehabilitation center and six outpatient clinics located throughout the state. More than 55,000 Veterans from various generations receive care from the VAMHCS annually. Nationally recognized for its state-of-the-art technology and quality patient care, the VAMHCS is proud of its reputation as a leader in Veterans’ health care, research and education. It costs nothing for Veterans to enroll for health care with the VA Maryland Health Care System and it could be one of the more important things a Veteran can do. For information about VA health care eligibility and enrollment or how to apply for a VA medical care hardship to avoid future copayments for VA health care, interested Veterans are urged to call the Enrollment Center for the VA Maryland Health Care System, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1-800-463-6295, ext. 7324 or visit http://www.maryland.va.gov.
Rosalia Scalia, Veterans Health Administration, http://www.maryland.va.gov, +1 (410) 605-7464, [email protected]
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