Shahzadi Arhum

Project Title: "Crosstalk between Emotional Stress and Atrial Fibrillation and how they lead towards Heart Failure"

Abstract 

Emotional stress is one of the leading causes of various cardiovascular diseases around the world which not only triggers cardiovascular issues but their exacerbation. In this context, impact of chronic emotional stress on cardiac health and complications is studied using mouse model. This is a gene expression analysis study, which is assisted by various biochemical tests and histopathological analysis to illustrate and emphasize on the role played by emotional stress in triggering cardiac stress and associated complications which lead towards heart failure. The study is done to check if emotional stress causes cardiac stress and if this cardiac stress triggers various types of cardiac complications i.e., Atrial Fibrillation, Tacchycardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and Dilated cardiomyopathy. Also, the study is done to check the crosslink between various cardiac complications and how the presence of AF triggers TIC, HCM and DCM and how they all eventually lead towards the heart failure.  Cardiac stress has been confirmed by two biomarkers of cardiac stress i.e., the upregulation of Ankrd1 and Fhl1 indicated the presence of cardiac stress in mouse model. The observed downregulation of Ttn and Myl4 gene is known to trigger Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in the emotionally stressed heart. Higher levels of the Hcn4 indicated the likelihood of Tacchycardiomyopathy. While the onset of HCM is indicated by the Myh7 and rest of the genes but data of Myh7 generated in this study is ambiguous. While, rest of the data indicates the onset of AF, TIC, cardiomyopathy in the emotionally stressed mouse model. Also, data from histopathology and enzymatic analysis shows the deteriorating cardiac health. Overall, this study indicates the impact of prolonged emotional stress as a triggering factor of cardiac stress leading the heart towards cardiac complications like AF, TIC, HCM, DCM and eventually Heart failure. 

"Forced swim test based induced depression upregulates cardiac stress-responsive genes in mouse model"

Graphical Abstract:

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Education

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     Khwarizmi Science Society

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    Forman Christian College

    Khwarizmi Science Society

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University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 2019-2020

University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 2019-2020

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Forman Christian College (A Chartered University)

Government College University, Lahore

Alpine Club of Pakistan

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