Dr. Gutterman's research efforts span basic and clinical science related to vascular health and disease. His laboratory is one of only 2 world-wide that examine the ability of small blood vessels to control blood flow to the heart of humans. Otherwise discarded tissue is obtained from patients undergoing heart surgery. Microvessels isolated from this tissue has shown us that human blood vessels behave much differently than those from animal models. Furthermore diseases such as diabetes markedly reduce the ability of the blood vessels to dilate during periods of need such as exercise or during near-heart attack situations. This may in part explain why patients with diabetes have higher mortality and complications with heart attacks than their non-diabetic counterparts with similarly severe heart attacks.
Dr. Gutterman has also undertaken studies to examine the earliest changes that occur in the development of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries that is responsible for stroke and heart attacks, and which kills more Americans than any other cause). By examining the function of the inner lining of blood vessels (endothelium) in the arm, one can determine whether the propensity for the development of heart disease is present. Working with Dr. Anne Hoch from the Department of Orthopedics, Dr. Gutterman has determined that elite women athletes often develop endothelial dysfunction as part of a previously described clinical problem termed the "female triad" which includes loss of menstrual cycling, disordered eating, and bone loss or osteoporosis. Thus in addition to these problems, a potentially increased risk of cardiovascular disease is also present.
Ongoing studies will examine this startling finding in other susceptible populations and identify new ways to treat this condition and prevent the onset of disease.
Recent Publications
Jurva, J.W., Phillips, S.A., Syed, A.Q., Syed A.Y., Pitt, S., Weaver, A., and Gutterman, D.D. Effect of exertional hypertension evoked by weightlifting on vascular endothelial function JACC (provisionally accepted) 2006
Hatoum, O.A., Otterson, M.F., Kopelman, D., Miura, H., Suktotnik, I., Larsen, B., Selle, R.M., Moulder, J. E., Gutterman, D.D. Radiation induces endothelial dysfunction in murine intestinal arterioles via enhanced production of reactive oxygen species. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 2005 (In Press)
Larsen, B.T., Miura, H., Hatoum, O.A., Campbell, W.B., Hammock, B.D., Zeldin, D.C., Falck, J.R., Gutterman, D.D. Epoxyeicosatrienoic and dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids dilate human coronary arterioles via BKCa channels: implications for soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibition. Amer. J. Physiol 2005 (In press)
Hatoum, O.A., Gauthier, K.M., Binion, D.G., Miura, H., Telford, G., Otterson, M.F., Campbell, W.B., Gutterman, D.D. Novel Mechanism of Vasodilation in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. ATVB 2005 (in press)
Liu, Y., Bubolz, A.B., Shi, Y., Newman, P.J., Newman, D.K. and Gutterman, D.D. Peroxynitrite reduces the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor component of coronary flow-mediated dilation in PECAM-1-knock out mice. Amer. J. Physiol. 2005 (in press)
Hatoum O.A., Binion D.G., Miura H., Telford G., Otterson M.F., Gutterman, D.D. The Role of hydrogen peroxide in Ach-induced dilation of human submucosal intestinal microvessels. Am J Physiol Heard Circ Physiol. 2004 Sep 2.
Sato A., Sakuma I., Gutterman, D.D. Mechanism of dilation to reactive oxygen species in human coronary arterioles. Am J Physiol Heard Circ Physiol. 2003 Dec;285 (6):H2345-54.
Liu Y., Zhao H., Li, H., Kalyanaraman, B., Nicolosi, A.C., Gutterman, D.D. Mitochondrial sources of H202 generation play a key role in flow-mediated dilation in human coronary resistance arteries. Cir Res. 2003 Sep 19;93(6):573-80. Epub 2003 Aug 14.
Hatoum, O.A., Binion, D.G., Otterson, M.F., Gutterman, D.D. Acquired microvascular dysfunction in inflammatory bowel disease: Loss of nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation. Gastroenterology. 2003 Jul;125(1):58-69.
Miura, H., Wachtel, R., Loberiza, F., Saito, T., Gutterman, D.D. Diabetes Mellitus causes dysfunction of ATP-sensitive K+ channels and impairs vasodilation to hypoxia in human coronary arterioles. Circ. Res. 92:151-158, 2003.
Miura, H., Bosnjak, J.J., Ning, G., Saito, T., Miura, M., Gutterman, D.D. Role for hydrogen peroxide in flow-induced dilation of human coronary arterioles. Circ. Res. 2003 Feb7;92(2):e31-40.