Lisa Gurung

• BSc (Hons) Pharmacology
• How do Riociguat and Sildenafil affect pulmonary cells to reduce Pulmonary Hypertension?

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a complex disease arising from endothelial injury and remodelling in the pulmonary vasculature. A dysfunctional endothelium plays a pivotal role to the development of PH in which abnormalities in the nitric oxide (NO), endothelin and prostaglandin pathways have provided targets for the development of drug therapies. The main body of the research undertaken was to determine the effects of Riociguat and Sildenafil therapy on endothelial cells isolated from PH patients. Downstream signalling was measured including NO, HIF-1alpha, sGCBeta1, VEGFR1, as well as apoptosis, all of which are shown to be important markers for endothelial cell dysfunction.

Project Supervisors: Dr Jenny Grant & Dr Marie Ruchaud-Sparagano

Funding source: Newcastle University