Anesthesia research aims to make pain management in pregnancy safer

The Department of Anesthesia is pleased to announce that Detlef Obal, MD, PhD, DESA, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, has received a $3.6 million R01 award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. The project will examine a pressing clinical question: does opioid exposure during pregnancy affect early cardiovascular development?

Dr. Obal recently joined the University of Iowa from Stanford University. At Stanford he trained in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology under Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized leader in the field.

The project uses a multicellular cardiac organoid platform derived from human iPSCs. With it, the research team can follow how cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells develop during the earliest stages of heart formation. Working with co-principal investigator Robert Weiss, MD, Professor of Cardiology, Dr. Obal will also study whether opioid administration during pregnancy changes cardiac function in the offspring of mice. A collaboration with Stanford University adds high-resolution imaging studies to track how the cardiac conduction system develops.

Opioids are often given during pregnancy, and current clinical data suggest they may be safe. However, the earliest stages of human development, including the formation of the heart, have been very hard to study because of ethical limits and a lack of suitable experimental models. Human stem cell-based models help close that gap. This project will either strengthen confidence in existing clinical evidence or show previously unrecognized effects of medications widely considered safe. The study also shows how new approach methodologies, such as human iPSC-derived organoids, can move findings more quickly from the laboratory to patient care.

Congratulations, Dr. Obal!