According to the World Health Organization, heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide, but scientists still don’t understand all the factors that affect heart health.

Environmental medicine researchers at the University of Louisville are working to better understand how the natural, social, and personal environments influence health, especially the cardiovascular system. In recent months, the National Institutes of Health awarded four grants totaling $11.6 million to researchers affiliated with UofL’s Christina Lee Brown Institute for the Environment to study factors that affect heart health. A grant was awarded. Through these projects, researchers hope to better understand how environmental exposures and tobacco products affect the cardiovascular system, and how cardiac remodeling occurs after a heart attack. .

“The unique and synergistic research collaborations we have built at the Envirome Institute are already yielding new discoveries about the biological and environmental factors that contribute to heart disease,” said University Department of Environmental Medicine. said Aruni Bhatnagar, director and head of the department of environmental medicine. Environmental Research Institute. “Our research funded by these new grants will lead to a deeper understanding of the causes and progression of cardiovascular disease and new ways to protect and improve cardiovascular health.”

New projects will explore the cardiovascular effects of newly introduced ingredients in e-liquids, benzene exposure, prenatal and infant exposure to combinations of substances, and their effects on sleep in adolescents. , which addresses the metabolic process that causes scarring in the heart that occurs after a heart attack. heart.

One grant provides $3.3 million to study how exposure to benzene affects blood vessels. Sanjay Srivastava, a professor of medicine who is leading the project, said preliminary research shows that benzene worsens atherosclerosis, the root cause of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty deposits within the arteries, reduces blood flow and flexibility of the arteries. Benzene is one of the top 20 pollutants from industrial sources in the United States, primarily gasoline refineries. Outside of industrial areas, exposure is higher near gas stations and from car exhaust and cigarette smoke. Although benzene is known to cause cancer, this is the first study to assess the chemical’s impact on heart disease, especially at levels commonly experienced in the environment.

Cardiac fibrosis is essential for maintaining the heart’s structure after a heart attack, but it also tends to cause excess scar tissue and hardening of the heart. Bradford Hill studies the processes behind heart stiffening and scarring after myocardial infarction. The $2.3 million grant funds the medical professor’s research investigating the metabolic processes underlying this process. Hill hopes this research will lead to treatments that not only support the repair process but also reduce excessive scarring, helping heart attack patients fare better in the future.

Clara Sears, assistant professor of environmental medicine, discovers how exposure to a mix of common chemicals and pollutants during prenatal and infancy affects sleep health in adolescence The project received a $2.1 million grant. Ultimately, she discovered that exposure to phthalates (common ingredients in plastics), metals, and per/polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS – known as “forever chemicals”) may lead to cardiovascular problems later in life. I would like to understand if it could be related to a system problem.

The largest grant, $3.9 million, will fund research into the potential toxicity of new synthetic cooling compounds used in e-liquids. Daniel J. Conklin is leading a project to determine whether these compounds are harmful to the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems when heated and inhaled. This compound mimics the cooling effects of menthol and can cause irritation when ingested in large amounts, but has not been tested for safety or toxicity as an inhalant. In this new project, Conklin, a professor of medicine who has studied the cardiovascular effects of e-cigarette and tobacco ingredients for more than 20 years, will test the effects of new ingredients, as well as the effects of dual use with traditional smoking. is documented. Cigarettes and vapes. The Food and Drug Administration’s Center on Tobacco Products uses the results of these studies to determine potential recommendations for regulating the use of the products.

“We are going to tackle the problem of dual use, where both cigarettes and e-cigarettes are used, which is a very common phenomenon and is actually more effective than using either alone. Because the signals are coming that it’s bad,” Conklin said.