Dr. Tarek Saleh at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) is studying antioxidants and their potential role in the preventing heart disease in pets and people alike. His research also includes evaluating a new compound that may improve patient outcomes after experiencing a stroke.
Dr. Tarek Saleh
Saleh, a professor and chair of OVC’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, is seeking to improve preventative methods ultimately to reduce the number of people suffering from heart disease. Heart disease, a group of conditions that affect the structure or function of the heart, is currently ranked as the number one cause of death worldwide.
“Everyone knows someone touched by this disease,” Saleh shares. “While there has been progress in terms of reducing the number of deaths every year, more people than ever are living with heart disease.”
Saleh’s research focuses on identifying what causes oxidative stress in the heart and brain, to prevent long-term consequences. Oxidative stress is defined as the imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in your body. Free radicals are oxygen-containing molecules with an uneven number of electrons, which makes them unbalanced and means they react more easily with other molecules to cause damage. Antioxidants are substances that act to protect cells of the body from free radicals by chemically preventing oxidation.
Many cardiovascular conditions have been linked to oxidative stress, including high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and stroke. Heart disease is often referred to as the “silent killer”, and Saleh believes improving its prevention is better than identifying a cure.
In order to reduce oxidative stress in the heart and brain, Saleh must identify what causes oxidative stress and how tissue damage occurs. He then plans to evaluate antioxidants that could be recommended to patients to reduce their risk of heart disease.
“This research is focused on helping save people and animals suffering from heart disease. By focusing on prevention, we can assist patients who are not actively displaying signs of disease, yet are at high risk.”
In addition to its role in heart disease, oxidative stress causes many neurodegenerative diseases and is a significant contributor to the damage occurring after a stroke - when blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, limiting oxygen and nutrient supply to brain tissues.
If a stroke is caused by a blood clot preventing blood flow to the brain, doctors can administer a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) to break the clot apart, but only if it is given less than four hours after the first signs of stroked. However, once TPA allows blood flow to return to the brain, free radicals due to oxidative stress can inflict further damage to tissue.
In another project, Saleh and colleagues are seeking to prove the effectiveness of the compound VANL-100 in protecting the brain from free radical damage during stroke treatment.
VANL-100 reduces free radical damage to brain tissue when blood flow returns following treatment and, if effective, could extend the window of opportunity to administer TPA and reduce potential damage by oxidative stress during recovery.
Saleh hopes that his research will bring attention to the devastating and long-term consequences of oxidative stress on our heart and brain.