ECU researcher earns $1.8M grant to study brain, immune system links to hypertension
A researcher in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University has received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how communication between the central nervous system and immune system regulate blood pressure.
The research has the potential to contribute to novel treatments for hypertension.
Dr. Srinivas Sriramula has received a grant from the NIH to study the way certain peptides impact blood pressure.
(Contributed photo)
Dr. Srinivas Sriramula, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology will explore how specific kinins—peptides formed in the body in response to injury or inflammation—and their receptors induce inflammation and regulate blood pressure. Dr. Sriramula’s work will focus on kinin B1 receptors.
“Our recent studies suggest that using a drug to inhibit the activation of kinin B1 receptor prevents the increase in blood pressure,” he said. “In this project, we aim to develop a novel therapeutic approach based on kinin B1 receptor blockade to treat neurogenic hypertension. The results will expand our knowledge regarding hypertension and provide new insights for the kinin B1 receptor blockade as clinical treatment for hypertension.”
Research in the past decade has been increasingly focused on studying the role of inflammation in the brain in the development of hypertension. Dr. Sriramula’s research zeroes in on increased kinin B1 receptors in hypertensive subjects.
The receptor activation is also associated with other cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes and heart failure.
“Identifying novel therapeutic targets is essential to treat hypertension and its complications,” Sriramula said. “Despite aggressive lifestyle changes and advances in drug therapy, hypertension remains an immense health, emotional and economic challenge. This is due in part to the fact that more than 50% of hypertensive patients’ blood pressure remains uncontrolled, and more than 20% of hypertensive patients are resistant to or require three or more antihypertensive drugs.”
The grant is Sriramula’s first NIH proposal; he hopes the research will lend to better outcomes in treatment to hypertension and related conditions that are prevalent in eastern North Carolina.
“Receiving this award on my first submission is the culmination of my years of hard work,” he said. “It shows the importance of our research project and its translational impact. Over the next five years, this funding will help us to establish several innovative research tools in the laboratory and investigate the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of neurogenic hypertension.”
Sriramula earned his PhD in Veterinary Medical Sciences from the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine–Baton Rouge and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the LSU Health Sciences Center–New Orleans. He joined ECU’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2017.
“I joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology because of the exceptionally supportive research environment, and support from the Department, the Brody School of Medicine and the Division of Research, Economic Development and Engagement at ECU,” he said.
His interest in biomedical research stems from exploration of complex human and animal diseases on a broader level.
“Since I was a graduate student, I have been passionate about cytokine signaling in the brain and its link to hypertension,” he said. “Leveraging my training as a veterinary doctor, I chose studying human cardiovascular diseases using animal models and better understand the disease process.”
Sriramula said the grant is an example of what can come from perseverance; he encourages students to stay the course.
“My advice to Brody students who are interested in pursuing research career is that discipline and hard work will always be rewarded,” he said. “No challenge is permanent. It’s your motivation and perseverance that will keep you going until they pass.”