Lab Spotlight Hypertension and Diabetes Research Division

Lab Spotlight: Hypertension and Diabetes Research Division

Innovative Solutions for Hypertension: Understanding the Interplay Between the Gut Microbiome, Immune System, and End-Organ Damage

This spotlight is on the work of the Hypertension and Diabetes Research Division at the Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease Research, La Trobe University. This dedicated team is led by A/Prof Antony Vinh and Dr Maria Jelinic, and includes Dr Courtney Judkins, Dr Hericka Bruna Figueiredo Galvao, Dr Vivian Tran, PhD Students Ms Flavia Wassef, Ms Buddhila Wickramasinghe, Ms Tayla Gibson Hughes, Mr Jake Robertson and Ms Ghaida Moria, Masters student Mr Roberto Iaconis and Honour students Mr Patrick Francis and Mr Vinh Nguyen Son Ngo.

Their lab focuses on understanding and addressing the mechanisms behind hypertension and its complications. Key initiatives include developing novel drugs targeting inflammation to treat hypertension, exploring the role of gut phages in blood pressure regulation, and using advanced techniques to study atherosclerosis for early detection and treatment of heart attacks.

What is your team's vision?

Our team forms a part of the Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease Research. Our work directly aligns with our Centre’s vision to reduce the toll of cardiovascular disease through research, education and community engagement.

Tell us about your lab's research or initiatives focused on preventing, detecting, and managing high blood pressure and its complications.

Our lab focuses on understanding and addressing the mechanisms behind hypertension and its complications. Key initiatives include:

  • developing novel drugs targeting inflammation to treat hypertension
  • exploring the role of gut phages in blood pressure regulation
  • using advanced techniques to study atherosclerosis for early detection and treatment of heart attacks.

Additionally, our research investigates the effects of intermittent fasting on metabolic syndrome, considering sex differences. We employ a variety of cutting edge techniques and animal models to advance these studies.

What is your team currently working on?

We are currently working on 4 different areas of research:

  1. Investigating the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the development of hypertension and its complications. Knocking out genes coding for the NLRP3 inflammasome or its cytokine product interleukin-18 reduces blood pressure, kidney injury, and heart failure in hypertensive mice. We are now developing and screening novel drugs that block IL-18 or its receptor to treat hypertension and its downstream effects.
  2. Exploring the role of gut phages (viruses that infect bacteria) in hypertension. We have identified several phages that are abundant during experimental hypertension and target beneficial gut bacteria. We are now using in vitro studies to learn more about these phages and their hosts.
  3. Understanding the biology of atherosclerosis (fatty deposits in arteries) to prevent heart attacks. Using multiomic techniques like single-nucleus RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, and imaging mass cytometry we will identify biomarkers for early detection of atherosclerotic plaques and potential therapeutic targets.
  4. Investigating the sex-specific effects of intermittent fasting on metabolic syndrome. Intermittent fasting can reverse metabolic disturbances such as hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. It is not clear whether these effects are similar in both sexes. We are now exploring the sex-specific effects of intermittent fasting in the livers and kidneys of mice with and without metabolic syndrome.

What is your team planning on working on next?

Future plans for each project:

  1. Once we identify a new candidate drug, we will test this in animal models of hypertension.
  2. We hope to eventually target these phages to improve gut health and manage high blood pressure.
  3. We are hoping to validate the biomarkers/therapeutic targets identified in our multiomics studies in animal and cell culture models.
  4. We hope to validate our findings from mouse tissues in human samples to determine the clinical relevance of our findings.

Has your lab received any awards, grants, or publications for your work related to Hypertension?

AWARDS AND GRANTS

2024

  • National Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant (107638) “Spatial multiomic analysis of the human coronary artery plaque”. $74,708 (CIA)

2023

  • Ian Potter Foundation Medical Research Program Grant “CytAssist equipment for accelerating spatial transcriptomics in cardiovascular disease research” (31111406, CIA, 2023 – 2024, $120,000)
  • NHMRC Ideas Grant “Targeting interleukin-18-mediated inflammation to treat advanced kidney disease”. (GNT2020452, 2023 – 2027, $1,304,467)

2021

  • NHMRC Ideas Grant “Targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome and interleukin-18 in hypertensive heart failure” (GNT2003752, 2021 – 2024, $1,241,115)arallel-group trial”

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  1. Tran V, Brettle H, Diep H, Galvao HBF, Sobey CG, Drummond GR, Vinh A and Jelinic M (2025). Sex-specific characterisation of aortic function and inflammation in a new diet-induced mouse model of metabolic syndrome. FASEB J 39:e70413
  2. Jamal A, Brettle H, Jamil DA, Tran V, Diep H, Bobik A, van der Poel C, Vinh A, Drummond GR, Thomas CJ, Jelinic M* & Al-Aubaidy HA* (2024). Reduced insulin resistance and oxidative stress in a mouse model of metabolic syndrome following twelve weeks of citrus bioflavonoid hesperidin supplementation: A dose-response study. Biomolecules 14(6): 637 * co-corresponding authors
  3. Figueiredo Galvao HB, Lieu M, Moodley S, Diep H, Jelinic M, Bobik A, Sobey CG, Drummond GR, & Vinh A (2024). Depletion of follicular B cell-derived antibody secreting cells does not attenuate angiotensin II-induced hypertension or vascular compliance. Front Cardiovasc Med 11: 1419958
  4. Robertson JN, Diep H, Pinto AR, Sobey CG, Drummond GR, Vinh A & Jelinic M (2024). Optimization of mouse kidney digestion protocols for single-cell applications. Physiol Genomics 56(7):469-482
  5. Gibson Hughes TA, Dona MI, Sobey CG, Pinto AR, Drummond GR, Vinh A, Jelinic M (2024). Aortic cellular heterogeneity in health and disease: Novel insights into aortic diseases from single-cell RNA transcriptomic datasets. (invited review). Hypertens 81(4): 738- 751
  6. Tran V, Brettle H, Diep H, Dinh QN, Sobey CG, Lim K, Drummond GR, Vinh A & Jelinic M (2023). Sex-specific effects of obesity on aortic inflammation and dysfunction. Sci Rep 13: 21644
  7. Figueiredo Galvao HB, Dinh QN, Thomas JM, Wassef F, Diep H, Bobik A, Sobey CG, Drummond GR and Vinh A (2023). Proteasome inhibition reduces plasma cell and antibody secretion, but not angiotensin II-induced hypertension. Front Cardiovasc Med 10:1184982
  8. Judkins C, Wang Y, Jelinic M, Bobik A, Vinh A, Sobey CG & Drummond GR (2023). Association of constipation with increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular events in elderly Australian patients (accepted Jul 2023). Sci Rep 13: 10943
  9. Zhang DW, Tran V, Vinh A, Drummond GR, Sobey CG, Jelinic M* & De Silva M* (2023). Pathological links between obesity and vascular dementia. NeuroMol 25(4): 451–456 *co-corresponding authors
  10. Jelinic M, Jackson KL, O’Sullivan K, Singh J, Giddy T, Deo M, Parry LJ, Ritchie RH, Woodman OL, Head GA, Leo CH and Qin CX (2023). Endothelium-dependent relaxation is impaired in Schlager hypertensive (BPH/2J) mice by region-specific mechanisms in conductance and resistance arteries. Life Sci 320: 121542

Where can we find out more about your work with Hypertension?

https://www.latrobe.edu.au/research/centres/cardiovascular