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Projects on Genetics of TB, Diabetes
and Rickets Stem from CCTS
Pilot projects receive seed funding from NIH grant to Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences
One of four pilot projects already part of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) program of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston will investigate a possible genetic link between diabetes and tuberculosis. A second project will study a type of rickets that is a genetic disease affecting one in every 20,000 live births.
Blanca Restrepo,
Ph.D.
The diabetes-tuberculosis research is led by Blanca Restrepo, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at the UT School of Public Health’s Brownsville Regional Campus.
Based on findings from a retrospective study published in September in Epidemiology and Infection, the researchers will start to compare expression of selected genes in patients with diabetes and tuberculosis compared to those with TB but not diabetes.
“The purpose will be to search for gene expression that may be altered by diabetes and that may be key for the immune response to TB,” Restrepo said.
The new study builds on the work of the school’s Hispanic Health Research Center, which focuses on the predominantly (85 percent) Hispanic population of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and its major health threats – cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infectious diseases, cancer and mental health.
Patients will come from the health programs in Hidalgo and Cameron counties as well as from clinics in Matamoros, Mexico. Resources and expertise will include the bi-national consortium Nuevo Santander Tuberculosis Trackers, health departments in five counties of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas Department of State Health Services (Region 11, Harlingen) and health agencies in the Mexican border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
Mary Ruppe, M.D.
Mary Ruppe, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the UT Medical School at Houston, is leading another one of the CCTS pilot projects. Ruppe, an endocrinologist, received funding to study X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets.
This form of rickets results in short stature and severe bowing of the lower extremities. Current treatments include high doses of phosphate and vitamin D, which help patients grow taller but also can cause kidney stones and parathyroid disease.
Ruppe is using services already available through the CCTS to learn more about rickets. She is doing genetic profiling and micro-array analyses on bone that is removed from patients during surgery.
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The center also is helping Ruppe develop a database and do statistical analysis on 30 years’ worth of data on 120 rickets patients. “We hope this will lead to better treatments,” Ruppe said.
“We want to identify ways to predict who is more likely to develop complications and who is more likely to respond to treatment. Ultimately, we want to improve their height while minimizing their complications.”
As a new faculty member, Ruppe said, it can be challenging to jump-start research. Funding is limited, and it often can take months to receive approval on grant applications. “Without this startup funding, I wouldn’t have a practical way to carry out this research,” Ruppe said. “This is a wonderful opportunity.”
A major goal of the CCTS is to support young investigators and foster original research.
By Meredith Raine, Institutional Advancement