Despite advancements in treating ischemic heart disease (IIHD), the mortality and morbidity rates from this disease remain high. It is becoming increasingly recognized that psychosocial stress contributes to the development and course of IHD through various mechanisms. One such mechanism is thought to be stress induced physiological changes resulting in myocardial ischemia. Mental stress induced myocardial ischemia (MSIMI) is prevalent in patients with IHD.MSIMI is also clinically important as it has been shown to be associated with increased risk of poor prognosis, independent of conventional risk factors. The precise biochemical mechanisms underlying MSIMI are poorly known, but there is evidence that serotonergic dysregulation may play a role. Enhanced knowledge of the molecular basis of MSIMI will help inform the development of more effective pharmacotherapy for its treatment. This proposal takes advantage of existing data generated through NHLBI funded REMIT study that investigated the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) on MSIMI. As a part of the screening process, we collected demographic, psychometric data, cardiovascular responses to mental stress, and blood samples from 310 patients, and conducted a metabolomic pilot study in a subset of the population (30 patients with/without MSIMI [N=15/each]). Data revealed several strong metabolite differences between these groups of patients with/out MSIMI, the most prominent of which involved compounds from the tryptophan, tyrosine, and purine pathways. The proposed study will expand on the novel findings of this pilot study by profiling samples from the entire REMIT population using two complementary metabolomics platforms. An electrochemistry based platform, the one used in the pilot study, will be used to quantitate compounds from the tryptophan, tyrosine, purine, and sulphur amino acid pathways, areas of biochemistry that have been shown to be important in the study CNS mediated stress responses including MSIMI. We will also use a mass spectrometry based platform to profile compounds of intermediary metabolism including amino acids, fatty acids, acylcarnitines, and organic acids. This platform has been successfully applied to the study of cardiometabolic disease and has yielded insights into novel mechanisms of IHD. The output of these platforms will be used to identify and validate metabolomic profiles that: (a) that discriminate between patients with and without MSIMI (b) discriminate between patients showing a good or a poor response to escitalopram and (c) are associated with adverse events.

Public Health Relevance

Mental stress induced myocardial ischemia is prevalent and a risk factor for poor prognosis in IHD patients. This project aims to advance the understanding of biochemical mechanisms of MSIMI and response variation to its treatment with SSRIs. The results of this proposed study will ultimately guide the development novel therapies that will reduce rate of MSIMI and its negative consequences.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HL118077-03
Application #
9037519
Study Section
Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section (MESH)
Program Officer
Stoney, Catherine
Project Start
2014-05-09
Project End
2017-03-31
Budget Start
2016-04-01
Budget End
2017-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Duke University
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
044387793
City
Durham
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27705
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Xiong, Glen L; Prybol, Kevin; Boyle, Stephen H et al. (2015) Inflammation Markers and Major Depressive Disorder in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure: Results From the Sertraline Against Depression and Heart Disease in Chronic Heart Failure Study. Psychosom Med 77:808-15
Jiang, Wei; Boyle, Stephen H; Ortel, Thomas L et al. (2015) Platelet aggregation and mental stress induced myocardial ischemia: Results from the Responses of Myocardial Ischemia to Escitalopram Treatment (REMIT) study. Am Heart J 169:496-507.e1
Boyle, Stephen H; Matson, Wayne R; Velazquez, Eric J et al. (2015) Metabolomics analysis reveals insights into biochemical mechanisms of mental stress-induced left ventricular dysfunction. Metabolomics 11:571-582
Ersbøll, Mads; Al Enezi, Fawaz; Samad, Zainab et al. (2014) Impaired resting myocardial annular velocities are independently associated with mental stress-induced ischemia in coronary heart disease. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 7:351-61
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Jiang, Wei; Velazquez, Eric J; Kuchibhatla, Maragatha et al. (2013) Effect of escitalopram on mental stress-induced myocardial ischemia: results of the REMIT trial. JAMA 309:2139-49