Cardiology

Students and veterinarians work together in our Cardiovascular Research Laboratory.

Cardiovascular Research Laboratory

We maintain a robust research program devoted to the discovery of causes and new treatments for heart disease in animals and humans.

The veterinarians, scientists, graduate students, and professional veterinary medical students working in the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory participate in collaborative research efforts with physicians and scientists at CSU and other institutions. Together, we are exploring the fundamental causes of heart disease and developing novel new treatments for the heart diseases that afflict animals and humans.

Recent Discoveries and Progress

View a list of our notable research publications on the hospital's Research page. The following are some significant and interesting discoveries our Cardiovascular Research Laboratory has made:

• Cells in diseased canine mitral valves undergo a fundamental change in their cell type and these altered cells mediate the progression of the disease.

  Significance: Dogs and humans with mitral valve disease share the same cellular mechanisms.

• Local tissue production of serotonin mediates canine and human mitral valve disease.

  Significance: This finding explains the connection between drugs that alter serotonin (appetite suppressants, antidepressive drugs, anti-migraine drugs) and heart valve disease. This research may help in the development of novel treatments that could be used to slow progression or prevent mitral valve disease.

• We've developed an innovative method for preparing biological scaffold tissues (e.g. porcine valves) for tissue-engineering applications.

  Significance: New scaffold tissues may lead to the development of a "living" heart valve prosthesis that would solve many of the shortcomings of current heart valve prostheses.