Cardiovascular Research

The group focuses on the space outside the blood vessels, i.e. the interstitium and lymph vessel function, mostly in skin.

We have developed methods for isolation of interstitial fluid in tissues where such fluid is not readily available, like tumours, bone marrow and skin. We have developed imaging methods for measurement of lymph flow in experimental animals and a mass spectrometry based method to quantify multiple proteins in interstitial fluid and their distribution volume in the tissue.

Our recent focus is the role of the skin interstitium and its macrophages in controlling blood pressure. This is a new and emerging field of research, introducing the skin as a regulator of blood pressure and brings us into the field of interstitial fluid lymphatic vessel (patho)physiology and immunology that may influence our view on salt and water homeostasis in the body.

Professor Olav Tenstad and colleagues at the Department of Biomedicine have developed new markers for “molecular imaging” of kidney function using positron emission tomography (PET).

PET is a modern nuclear medicine imaging technique that can provide clinicians and researchers with three-dimensional images of organ function.

The new tracers are specific to functioning nephrons. Nephrons are the kidney’s functional units that filter plasma, remove waste products, regulate the body’s salt and fluid balance, and play a long-term role in blood pressure regulation.

The new method can both visualize and quantify filtration in individual nephrons in the kidney, thereby detecting functional disturbances earlier than what is possible with current technology. This could become an important tool for early detection and prevention of kidney disease in a large patient population.

A major advantage is that the tracer accumulates exclusively in functioning nephrons, allowing the dose to be reduced by a factor of more than 100 compared to conventional PET markers. The risk of side effects is also reduced since the tracer is produced using the body’s own proteins.

This discovery is important because accurate measurement of kidney filtration is crucial for optimal treatment and prevention in a large patient population at risk of developing kidney failure. Currently, there are no satisfactory non-invasive methods that can measure filtration in subpopulations of nephrons in a single kidney.

The goal of the project is for the first PET-based method for visualizing kidney filtration to be implemented for patient use at Haukeland University Hospital.

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