Secondary lesions due to chronic alcohol ingestion, muscle pathology.

Research

Team leader

Study of the pathological mechanisms of alcohol upon the organ cells and its pathological effects at neurological and cardiocirculatory level.
Importance of alcohol in intracytosolic calcium transport.
Effect of food upon the prevention of chronic diseases and cancer.
Prognosis of alcoholic myocardiopathy and its best management options.
Study of muscle and myocardial apoptosis in subjects presenting chronic alcohol abuse.
Study of the physiopathology of muscle diseases, particularly as regards the muscle immunohistochemical, immunogenetic and angiogenic changes (prognostic factors) in inflammatory myopathies.
Study of metabolic myopathic disorders, particularly relating to glycogenosis and myoadenylate deaminase deficiency.
Study of myocardial regeneration in alcoholic myocardiopathy.
Clinical and functional repercussions of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Study of the moderate consumption of wine and the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Study of primary mitochondrial myopathic disorders in the adult and of secondary mitochondrial involvement in different pathological and toxic situations.
Study of the physiopathological mechanisms involved in the development of systemic vasculitis.

Our future challenges are:

Furthering of knowledge of the action of alcohol upon signals translation and the appearance of apoptosis at muscle and myocardial level, and of the impact that alterations in mitochondrial DNA and in the mitochondrial respiratory chain may have upon degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, inflammatory myopathy and inclusion body diseases.
Furthering of knowledge of the prognostic factors in dermatomyositis, with a view to allowing early identification of those cases requiring stronger treatment measures (anti-TNF agents, gammaglobulins).
Characterization of the clinical and morphological aspects of metabolic muscle diseases (glycogenosis and MDA deficiency).
Study of sarcopenia in the geriatric population.
In-depth investigation of the mitochondrial toxicity of antiretroviral drugs and carbon monoxide (CO).
Proteomic studies to clarify the mechanisms of skeletal and cardiac muscle damage secondary to alcohol exposure.
Study of myocardial cell regeneration from stem cells in the myocardium of chronic alcoholic patients.
Study of serum and urine biomarkers in relation to food consumption and changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors.
In-depth study of the mechanisms involved in the development of systemic vasculitis.

I Research Group in Muscle and Mitochondrial Function:

Histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical study of muscle diseases.
Study of mitochondrial function in patients susceptible to mitochondrial disorders of genetic (primary) or toxic (secondary) origin.
Study of mitochondrial diseases, with special emphasis on biochemical and genetic investigations in different cell substrates.
Analysis of mitochondrial respiration and DNA in muscle, adipose tissue and lymphocytes of HIV-infected patients subjected to antiretroviral therapy.
Effect of smoking, carbon monoxide, neuroleptic drugs and antibiotics upon the mitochondrial function.
Mitochondrial dysfunction in sepsis.

II Vascular inflammation:

Expressions of cytokines and growth factors in vascular inflammatory lesions and their relationship with phenotypic expression, complications and the prognosis of systemic vasculitis.
Study of the interactions among lymphocytes, endothelium and extracellular matrix in the development and perpetuation of vascular inflammation and in the mechanisms that participate in vascular occlusion and regeneration.
Development of a questionnaire for evaluating quality of life in patients with giant cell arteritis (international study).
Expression of angiogenic and antiangiogenic factors as prognostic data in dermatomyositis.

III Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases:

Research is being carried out into the relationship between alcohol and arterial hypertension; the evolution of alcoholic myocardiopathy, the role of phenolic derivatives in wine and alcohol as influencing factors in the development of atherosclerosis; the effect of nicotine and aging upon mitochondrial respiration; and the presence of growth factors and adhesion molecules in angiogenesis, apoptosis, myocardiopathy and alcoholic myopathy.
Study of the effects of moderate wine consumption, the Mediterranean diet and other polyphenol-rich products in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and other degenerative disorders.
Proteomic studies of skeletal and cardiac muscle in relation to the pathogenesis of tissue damage secondary to alcohol exposure.