Mohammad Badran
University of Missouri-Columbia, MO·Physiology
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common disorder, especially in people with obesity, in which the airway repeatedly closes during sleep and oxygen levels drop again and again. It raises the risk of heart disease, including coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD), where the heart's small blood vessels fail to regulate blood flow properly.
- Fields
Physiology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Pharmacology
- Topics
obstructive sleep apnea
coronary microvascular dysfunction
intermittent hypoxia
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2028
What they work on
- Test whether the MR blockers spironolactone and finerenone reverse coronary microvascular dysfunction in obese male and female mice exposed to short- or long-term intermittent hypoxia, a mouse model of sleep apnea.
- Determine whether MR blockers speed recovery of coronary artery function after intermittent hypoxia ends, a 12-week normal-oxygen period that mimics ideal sleep apnea treatment.
- Identify whether endothelial or smooth muscle mineralocorticoid receptors drive hypoxia-induced coronary dysfunction, using mice lacking MR in only one cell type plus myography, Doppler flow and single-nucleus RNA sequencing.
More about the research
Standard OSA treatments have not reliably brought the expected heart benefits. That suggests extra drugs aimed at the underlying damage may be needed. This project tests whether a hormone receptor drives OSA-related heart vessel damage, in both male and female mice.
Why it matters
People with sleep apnea face a higher risk of heart attacks, and breathing treatments alone have not consistently protected their hearts. If blocking the mineralocorticoid receptor reverses or speeds recovery from coronary blood vessel damage, MR blockers such as spironolactone or finerenone could become add-on treatments to prevent coronary heart disease in OSA patients. The work could especially help women and people with obesity, groups whose coronary effects are poorly understood.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Malamo Countouris
University of Pittsburgh, PA·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Test in a randomized trial whether an angiotensin receptor blocker-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) lowers left ventricular mass index more than an angiotensin receptor blocker alone in women with prior preeclampsia and current hypertension.
Nathaniel Jeske
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Neuroscience
Identify where pain-sensing neurons and immune cells interact after chronic intermittent hypoxia, using a rodent model that mimics obstructive sleep apnea together with in vivo imaging and behavioral tests of pain sensitivity.
Peter Leary
University of Washington, WA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test in a Phase 2, single-center, randomized placebo-controlled trial whether 24 weeks of valsartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker, is safe and improves six-minute walk distance in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
The school
University of Missouri-Columbia: 21 labs on PI Pages, $509M a year on research, 260 research doctorates a year.
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