Scientists to study link with infections

The project, possibly the first of its kind worldwide, pairs cardiac scientists with microbiologists and experts in infectious diseases.

Last week, the university dedicated a $14.3 million building that will be used exclusively to study the connections between infections and heart disease. The four-story BioScience Center, at the north end of campus, dramatically increases the university's capacity for basic research, some of the school's scientists said.

It is the first facility built on any California State University campus that will concentrate entirely on research, said Steve Bloom, chief operating officer for the San Diego State Research Foundation, which financed much of the undertaking.

“If you knew how scarce lab space is on this campus, you'd understand how big a deal it is to have this kind of laboratory space available,” Bloom said. “It just opens all kinds of opportunities.”

Heart disease and stroke are the first and third leading causes of death, respectively, in the United States. Annually, they account for nearly 40 percent of all deaths nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. More than 927,000 Americans die of cardiovascular disease each year.

People commonly think of coronary artery disease and heart attacks, but other conditions can affect the heart muscle and valves, overall heart function and even cardiac development, said Kirk Knowlton, chief of cardiology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

In general, scientists believe that heart disease is caused by a combination of genetics and environmental factors, such as poor diet and lack of exercise. But increasingly, researchers have associated viral and bacterial infections with heart disease and heart failure.

“Most people don't think infection when they think heart disease, (and) I think SDSU has taken a bold step in challenging that scientifically,” Knowlton said.

Several pathogens have been tied to heart disease:

-- Viral myocarditis, which can be caused by several types of viruses. The viruses attack the heart's muscle cells, spurring an attack by the immune system.

-- Lyme disease, which is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted to humans by the bite of infected black-legged ticks. It has been linked to heart disease and chronic arthritis.

-- HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, frequently contributes to heart failure in patients.

-- Bacteria in the bloodstream, which can start as gum disease, can infect the heart's inner lining or valves. This creates a condition called bacterial endocarditis, which can damage or destroy the valves.

-- Rheumatic fever, caused by a streptococcal bacterial infection, also can lead to heart-valve disease.

“Right now, we are on the tip of the iceberg. There are some people here and there who work on this topic, but it's a really big problem that is in dire need of people to understand what's going on,” Stanley Maloy, director of SDSU's Center for Microbial Sciences, said of the new initiative.

Roger Davis, a heart researcher at SDSU, will be the first researcher to occupy the new BioScience Center this spring. Davis is studying how salmonella bacteria turn off a human gene that protects against heart disease.

Davis will rely on a mass spectrometer, an instrument that will help him learn how molecules involved in bacterial infections interact with one another.

The idea for the new center was driven by professors who saw it as critical for raising SDSU's profile in basic research, Davis said. It took about five years to develop and construct the building.

“The university owes it to the community to be an economic engine as well as an academic engine,” Davis said. “It's not just for training people, but also for providing innovative discoveries that can be translated into businesses and the economy.”

The university's particular approach to attacking heart disease could be unique throughout the world, said Dr. Robert H. Eckel, president of the American Heart Association.

“The idea of merging infectious disease and immunology with hard-core atherosclerosis science is really an interesting marriage,” said Eckel, who spoke at the dedication ceremony Wednesday.

Atherosclerosis is a type of heart disease that causes hardening of the arteries.

San Diego State, as part of the California State University system, is primarily guided by its mission as a teaching institution. But that doesn't preclude investments in research, said Tom Scott, SDSU's vice president for research.

“SDSU has for the last quarter of a century sort of bridled at the basic mission statement of the CSU and has extended beyond the teaching of undergraduates,” Scott said. “We expect more from our faculty than that.”

The university receives about $130 million annually in research grants and contracts. During the last fiscal year, which ended June 30, the College of Sciences received about $37 million. Nearly $16 million of that went to the college's biology department, where Davis and Maloy teach.

To build the new BioScience Center, the San Diego Research Foundation has committed $500,000 annually for 30 years to finance an $8 million bond.

The university is working to raise the rest to complete the second and third floors of the center. So far, SDSU has collected $625,000 through private donations.

The project is expected to run over budget by about $1.3 million because of increases in construction costs, but the building is expected to be completed on time, university administrators said.

In addition, the university has secured $3 million for an endowed chair to pay for the salary of the center's director. A national search is under way, and the administrators said they hope to name the director later this year.

“Within one to one and a half years, we'll have a pretty top-rate, fully occupied facility,” said Christopher C. Glembotski, director of the university's Heart Institute, which will have its headquarters at the BioScience Center.

Bruce Lieberman: (619) 293-2836; bruce.lieberman@uniontrib.com
TOP