Targeting the electric field of blood vessels for the treatment of vascular disease

Small electric fields are present throughout living tissues and are critical for the proper functioning of the body from heart beats to memory. Alterations within electric fields play pivotal roles in the body?s response to injury and wound healing. During vascular injury, the body tries to repair its tears in the blood vessel, but this can sometimes lead to excessive healing and cause the blood vessel to become occluded. If this occurs in the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart, it can lead to coronary heart disease, the single most common cause of death in the UK. This study proposes to characterise the changes in the electric field during vascular injury and develop new therapies for coronary heart disease based on the application of small electric fields.

Electric fields are found throughout living tissues, and are critical for the proper functioning of biological processes such as embryogenesis. Alterations within electric fields play pivotal roles in the cellular response to injury and enhanced migration and proliferation of individual cells. The endothelial layer of intact blood vessels acts as an electrical insulating layer resulting in the formation of a specific electric field. Injury to blood vessels damages this insulating layer and disrupts the electric field. These changes are thought to be important in the resulting excessive cell proliferation observed in vascular occlusion and disease. This study proposes to characterise the electric field in injured blood vessels and develop novel approaches to modulate this field. Once established, such technology will provide a potential treatment of vascular disease, such as coronary heart disease, without requiring chemical intervention.