The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute awarded $459,000 to associate professor of pharmacology Bradley K. McConnell to do the work which involves the actions of adrenaline/noradrenaline. They are also known as catecholamines, the “fight-or-flight” response hormones on the heart.
“The release of catecholamines is a normal and acute occurrence if you’re needing to run a marathon or escape an attack, for instance, but in heart failure it is no longer acute, it becomes a chronic response. Every day for the rest of your life those hormones will be elevated above normal levels,” said McConnell. “Once this happens, this elevated response desensitizes receptors on the cells of the heart.”