Research

Area 2

Hypertension, lipids and cardiovascular risk

Team leader

Strategic objectives

The general aim of our group is to gain in-depth knowledge of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and associated cardiovascular risk. The research lines we wish to continue consolidating are the following:

1. Mechanisms and consequences of silent lesions in target organs of hypertension.

2. Interaction of environmental determinants in cardiovascular disease, such as salt intake and the salt sensitivity phenomenon.

3. Candidate genes of hypertension and its complications.

4. Characterization of genetic dyslipidemias.

5. Detection of preclinical atherosclerosis.

6. Study of the intestinal absorption of cholesterol.

7. Phytosterolemia as a cardiovascular risk factor.

8. Determination of the fatty acids profile in phospholipids and blood cell membranes, and their associations with diet, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular risk phenotype and preclinical arteriosclerosis.

9. Study of the cardiovascular functionality of foods, including the effects of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids upon carotid atheroma plaque characteristics.

10. effects of the Mediterraenan diet upon carotid atheroma plaque vulnerability evaluated by MRI.

11. Identification of genetic variants associated with different responses to foods and nutrients (nutrition genetics).

Main lines of research

  1. External arterial ultrasound applied to femoral and carotid arteries, coronary CAT and carotid plaque MRI. Relationship between preclinical atherosclerosis and conventional and emergent risk factors and biomarkers of the usual diet, including unsaturated fatty acids and phospholipids in plasma, circulating vitamins and phytosterols. Influence of diet upon carotid atheroma plaque vulnerability evaluated by sequential MRI. Correlation of plaque composition by MRI with histology.
  2. Circadian patterns, arterial pressure variability and target organ damage. Sensitivity to salt in arterial hypertension. Inflammation in hypertension. Hypertension and atrial fibrillation as manifestation of hypertension-induced cardiac damage.
  3. Candidate genes for cerebrovascular stroke risk in hypertensive patients. Candidate genes for the development of left ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure in hypertensive patients.
  4. Functionality of the dietary standards and complete foods: influence upon arterial pressure evaluated by ambulatory and home monitoring, insulin resistance, biological markers of cholesterol absorption and vascular risk, dietary biomarkers (unsaturated fatty acids in whole blood, carotenes and vitamin E in plasma, polyphenols in urine) and physicochemical properties of the low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and high-density lipoproteins (HDLs).
  5. Mild age-associated cognitive impairment in participants in the PREDIMED study after two years of intervention with Mediterranean diets or low-fat diets.
  6. Effect of hypercholesterolemia of different origins and severity upon cognitive function as assessed by neuropsychological tests and functional brain MRI.
  7. Cholesterol absorption and synthesis evaluated by the determination of plasma non-cholesterol sterol levels using gas chromatography: measurement, genetic conditioning factors, influence upon cardiovascular risk and relationship with lipid response to phytosterols, ezetimibe and statins.
  8. Influence of polyunsaturated long-chain fatty acids (plant and marine omega-3) upon preclinical atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries, evaluated by high-resolution ultrasound with microbubble contrast and with MRI.
  9. Associations of the fatty acids profile in whole plasma, whole blood and a circulating phospholipid fraction with SCD1 activity; cardiometabolic risk factors and non-alcoholic liver steatosis; dietary determinants of the omega-3 index in whole blood; fatty acids composition of the “lipid rafts”; and effect upon cell signaling.