Vascular BioSciences Presents New Data from Pulmonary Hypertension Studies at ATS 2016

Vascular BioSciences presented six studies, five of which revealed new data on pulmonary hypertension in animal models and novel therapeutic approaches, at the recent American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference  in San Francisco, California.

The first abstracts presented, “Oral CAR Peptide Adjuvant Enhances Sildenafil Therapy for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension” and “CAR Peptide Adjuvant Enables Effective Pulmonary Hypertension Treatment with Imatinib at Reduced Doses,” were part of a collaborative effort between Vascular and Dr. Masanobu Komatsu and colleagues at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute  in Lake Nona, Florida.

These studies focused on developing a strategy to enhance the lung-selective delivery of imatinib and sildenafil (sildenafil being in wide use  to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients), while reducing side effects and improving drug efficacy. In both studies, combined therapy of CAR peptide with either imatinib or sildenafil was found to be more effective than imatinib or sildenafil monotherapies, reducing pulmonary artery thickening and pulmonary pressure to a greater extent.

Another collaboration, with Dr. Hideshi Okada and colleagues at the Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, and Dr. Komatsu, Vascular BioSciences, was presented in the study “Highly Effective Treatment of Endothelial Disorders in Sepsis by CAR Peptide Adjuvant for Hydrocortisone.” Findings revealed a higher efficacy of co-administration of CAR therapy and hydrocortisone in the improvement of vascular disorders in sepsis patients, compared to hydrocortisone alone.

Two studies, “MicroRNA and Gene Dysregulation in Pulmonary Hypertension: Experimental Findings in a Large Animal Model Compared to Predictions by a Systems Biology Approach” and “CARSKNKDC (CAR) Selective Enhancement of Fasudil-Induced Pulmonary Vasodilation in a Porcine Model of Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension,” part of a collaboration with Dr. Abraham Rothman and colleagues at the Children’s Heart Center Nevada and the University of Nevada, School of Medicine, Las Vegas, were also presented. The first study showed microRNAs that are dysregulated in PAH, and the second revealed data on the employment of CAR adjuvant therapy in the selective lung delivery of the vasodilator fasudil.

A final presentation, “Differential Response to Serial Microsphere Infusions During Creation of Canine and Porcine Models of Pulmonary Hypertension,” from another collaboration with Dr. Rothman, discussed results from the attempt to create large animal models of PAH with serial infusions of microspheres to the pulmonary vascular sites. Completely occluded arterial branches were found upon multiple microsphere injection in both canine and micropig models of PAH.

“This conference represents a unique opportunity to communicate with members of the international medical community the full breadth of Vascular BioSciences’ research efforts,” David Mann, CEO of Vascular BioSciences and a co-author in all studies, said in a company news release.

The ATS 2016 conference ran from May 13 to May 18.