PI: Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD
Sponsor: NIH
Study summary:
Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Type II diabetes. A cell type called the monocyte/macrophage is critical to development and complications of atherosclerosis.
This project will evaluate the effectiveness of a medication called Spironolactone in preventing atherosclerosis in Type II diabetes through its effects on cells such as the monocyte.
Spironolactone has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of patients after a heart attack and stroke.
We will evaluate the impact of Spironolactone in reducing atherosclerosis plaque and additionally evaluate its potential in changing inflammation. We envision that our strategy of simultaneously probing effect of a drug, combined with analysis of mechanisms of action and predictive response, will likely provide key information with which to design hard event (heart attack, stroke etc.) based trials.
All study visits will be performed at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.