Congratulations to Abigail Hellman, PhD, a Postdoctoral Scholar in the research lab of Dr. Aman Mahajan, who has received a $147,292 fellowship award for her project “Oxytocin Receptor in the Spinal Neuraxial Modulation of Ventricular Excitability” from the American Heart Association (AHA).
Cardiac sympathoexcitation, or increased activity of sympathetic nerves in the heart, plays a significant role in the development of abnormal heart rhythms (ventricular tachyarrhythmias) during events like reduced blood supply and after a heart attack. These abnormal heart rhythms are a major cause of sudden cardiac death, and there are limited ways to prevent them. A network of nerves called the cardiospinal neural network influences the activity of sympathetic nerves connected to the heart.
Research from the Mahajan lab has shown that stimulating the spinal cord can help reduce the problematic increase in sympathetic activity and abnormal heart rhythms in pigs experiencing reduced blood supply to the heart. However, when the same spinal cord stimulation is attempted in humans, results are inconsistent. To improve treatments that involve adjusting nerve activity and to explore new drug therapies, a better understanding is needed of the molecular mechanisms within the spinal cord network that contribute to heart issues during reduced blood supply.
The central hypothesis of Dr. Hellman’s newly funded project is that oxytocin, a chemical produced by the body known for its role in pain control and nerve regulation, may play a part in reducing abnormal heart rhythms triggered by sympathetic nerves. Recent data from RNA sequencing has prompted the Mahajan lab to investigate how oxytocin is involved in heart issues during reduced blood supply and how it might be controlled. Although oxytocin is known to modulate nerves, its specific role in influencing the cardiospinal neural network is not clear. Figuring out how oxytocin affects this network and reduces inflammation and cell death is crucial for mechanism-targeted application of spinal cord stimulation as a therapy.