Clinical Research Directory

Probing the Role of Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress in Impaired Vascular Function Among Young Adults With Early Life Adversity

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) represent highly stressful events in the first 18 years of life that include abuse, neglect, and household and community-level dysfunction. Greater exposure to ACEs are associated with greater increases in the risk of cardiovascular diseases and death. Our laboratory has previously observed that vascular function is disrupted in young adults with prior ACE exposure, even though these individuals appear to be healthy clinically (i.e., no classic clinical cardiovascular disease risk factors). There is a need to identify and understand the biological mechanisms underlying these vascular impairments to inform effective interventions to reduce cardiovascular risks the millions of individuals affected by ACEs. The body's response to stress is coordinated across various systems, all of which depend on energy supplied by mitochondria (often referred to as the "powerhouse of cells"). Based on new evidence across multiple physiological systems from our team, our overarching hypothesis is that disruption of mitochondrial function contributes to cardiovascular impairments among young adults with ACEs. Here we propose the initial pilot work necessary to begin to understand these associations, which will directly inform identification of individuals who may be most vulnerable to stress-related cardiovascular risk and the development of interventions to promote cardiovascular-stress resilience. Our aims are to: 1. Determine whether mitochondrial oxidative stress contributes to impaired vascular function among young adults who experienced early life adversity. 2. Determine whether reducing mitochondrial oxidative stress improves the cellular stress and integrated cardiovascular response to laboratory-based psychosocial stress among young adults who experienced early life adversity.

In Vivo Quantitative Mapping of Mitochondrial Cardiac Membrane Potential in Heart Failure

This research aims to develop a new method to measure how well mitochondria are working using a special imaging technique called PET (positron emission tomography) with a tracer called 18F-TPP+. This tracer helps us visualize and measure mitochondrial function in a non-invasive way.

Functional Mitochondrial Analysis PBMCs

The primary goal of this prospective, exploratory, longitudinal, single-centre, cohort study is to assess the stability of the mitochondrial flux in PBMCs over long-term cryopreservation. Secondary goals of this study are: * to identify changes in the mitochondrial respiratory flux in different metabolic states of cryopreserved PBMCs during long-term cryopreservation. * to assess variability between mitochondrial respiration from PBMCs isolated from same volunteers at different times, seasons or from different arms.

Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) as a Method for Measuring Oxidative Capacity of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria in Breast Cancer and All Gynecological Cancer Patients

Participants recruited for this study will be breast cancer or gynecological cancer patients who agree to participate in an exercise study examining the effects of chemotherapy on muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity, a measure of skeletal muscle health. Participants will ride a stationary bicycle and the quadriceps muscle will be non-invasively evaluated.