Rasna Sabharwal, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine-Cardiovascular Medicine
Current Positions
- Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine-Cardiovascular Medicine
- Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Education
- PhD, Physiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Research Fellow, Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Graduate Program Affiliations
Center, Program and Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
- My research focuses on neurohumoral control of circulation in health, disease and aging. Our goal is to identify therapies that can be translated to yield better clinical outcomes in cardiomyopathy, heart failure, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Ongoing studies involve the renin-angiotensin system, sympathetic nervous system, and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis. Expertise in my laboratory includes a combination of integrative cardiovascular, neurophysiological and autonomic approaches in genetically modified mice, such as in vivo radiotelemetry, optogenetics, electrophysiology, microdialysis and cardiac function assessment. Our projects also incorporate molecular and cellular techniques, including siRNA and viral microinjections, RNAseq, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization.
Selected Publications
- Sabharwal, R., Mason, B. N., Kuburas, A., Abboud, F. M., Russo, A. F. & Chapleau, M. W. (2019). Increased receptor activity-modifying protein 1 in the nervous system is sufficient to protect against autonomic dysregulation and hypertension. Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 39 (4) 690-703. DOI: 10.1177/0271678X17751352. PMID: 29297736. PMCID: PMC6446426.
- Sabharwal, R., Rasmussen, L., Sluka, K. A. & Chapleau, M. W. (2016). Exercise prevents development of autonomic dysregulation and hyperalgesia in a mouse model of chronic muscle pain. Pain 157 (2) 387-98. DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000330. PMID: 26313406.
- Sabharwal, R., Weiss, R. M., Zimmerman, K., Domenig, O., Cicha, M. Z. & Chapleau, M. W. (2015). Angiotensin-dependent autonomic dysregulation precedes dilated cardiomyopathy in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy. Experimental physiology 100 (7) 776-95. DOI: 10.1113/EP085066. PMID: 25921929.
- Sabharwal, R., Cicha, M. Z., Sinisterra, R. D., De Sousa, F. B., Santos, R. A. & Chapleau, M. W. (2014). Chronic oral administration of Ang-(1-7) improves skeletal muscle, autonomic and locomotor phenotypes in muscular dystrophy. Clinical science (London, England : 1979) 127 (2) 101-9. DOI: 10.1042/CS20130602. PMID: 24502705.
- Sabharwal, R. & Chapleau, M. W. (2014). Autonomic, locomotor and cardiac abnormalities in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy: targeting the renin-angiotensin system. Experimental physiology 99 (4) 627-31. DOI: 10.1113/expphysiol.2013.074336. PMID: 24334334.
- Sabharwal, R. (2014). Autonomic regulation in muscular dystrophy. Frontiers in physiology 5 61. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00061. PMID: 24596560.
- Sabharwal, R. (2014). The link between stress disorders and autonomic dysfunction in muscular dystrophy. Frontiers in physiology 5 25. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2014.00025. PMID: 24523698.
- Osei-Owusu, P., Sabharwal, R., Kaltenbronn, K. M., Rhee, M. H., Chapleau, M. W., Dietrich, H. H. & Blumer, K. J. (2012). Regulator of G protein signaling 2 deficiency causes endothelial dysfunction and impaired endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor-mediated relaxation by dysregulating Gi/o signaling. The Journal of biological chemistry 287 (15) 12541-9. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M111.332130. PMID: 22354966.
- Hauton, D., May, S., Sabharwal, R., Deveci, D. & Egginton, S. (2011). Cold-impaired cardiac performance in rats is only partially overcome by cold acclimation. The Journal of experimental biology 214 (Pt 18) 3021-31. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.053587. PMID: 21865514.
- Chapleau, M. W. & Sabharwal, R. (2011). Methods of assessing vagus nerve activity and reflexes. Heart failure reviews 16 (2) 109-27. DOI: 10.1007/s10741-010-9174-6. PMID: 20577901.