Food industry technology could aid critically ill patients

NZ study to explore how food industry technology could aid critically ill patients

The same technology used in the food industry to measure the antioxidant properties of edible plants, tea, and wine could be adapted to monitor the oxidative stress of critically ill patients in intensive care.

University of Auckland surgical researcher Dr Anthony Phillips has just received a $150,000 Explorer Grant from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) to develop a device to perform routine oxidative stress measurements in patients for the first time. The device uses technology called cyclic voltammetry that is widely used in the antioxidant food industry, but which has never been used for clinical use in acute and critically ill patients.

Dr Phillips is one of four researchers to receive a HRC Explorer Grant in 2015, each worth $150,000.

The HRC’s new Chief Executive, Dr Kathryn McPherson, says there was strong interest from the health research community for this year’s Explorer Grants.

“These grants are a unique opportunity to provide seed support for transformative, innovative, exploratory or unconventional research ideas that have the potential for major impact,” says Dr McPherson.

Oxidative stress is a universal feature of vital organ dysfunction and failure during acute and critical illness. It occurs when pro-oxidants overwhelm antioxidant defences.

Dr Phillips says there is currently no easy bedside test for measuring oxidative stress.

“It is widely recognised that a simple, real-time, point-of-care measurement of oxidative stress could be of significant benefit in assessing and managing acute and critically ill patients,” says Dr Phillips.

“Cyclic voltammetry is a remarkably straightforward technique. It uses two electrodes to measure the key components of blood total antioxidant status in one simple measurement cycle that takes only a few minutes.”

Because the technology is simple and has a strong scientific foundation, Dr Phillips says it offers a short path from development to implementation, and “a global opportunity for New Zealand to lead innovation in patient management strategies”.

Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere, a research fellow in global health and food policy at the University of Auckland, will use her 2015 Explorer Grant to develop and test approaches for engaging and empowering New Zealanders to take actions that will make their food and physical activity environments healthier. This includes crowdsourcing data with a smartphone application on the nutritional quality of foods in schools.

“Unhealthy diets have overtaken tobacco use as the major risk factor for disease in New Zealand,” says Dr Vandevijvere. “This project will support public awareness and improved actions at the local level to reduce childhood obesity.”

The other two Explorer Grant recipients are Associate Professor Julia Horsfield (University of Otago, Dunedin) who seeks to discover novel drug targets for controlling the high levels of uric acid that cause gout, a complex form of arthritis particularly affecting Māori and Pacific peoples; and Dr Justin O’Sullivan (the University of Auckland) for his research that will test a new way of understanding the activation of cells that migrate through the body to maintain health – or cause diseases such as cancer.

HRC Explorer Grant recipients for 2015

To view lay summaries of the recipients’ projects, go to www.hrc.govt.nz/funding-opportunities/recipients and filter for ‘Researcher initiated proposals’, ‘Explorer Grants’, ‘2015’.

Associate Professor Julia Horsfield
University of Otago, Dunedin

Discovering novel pathways for gout via functional genetics
$150,000, 24 months

Telephone: (03) 479 7436

Dr Justin O’Sullivan

The University of Auckland

Squeezing through cracks reprograms cells

$150,000, 24 months

Telephone: (09) 923 9868

Dr Anthony Phillips
The University of Auckland
Cyclic voltammetry of the critically ill: A new window on disease status

$150,000, 24 months

Telephone: (09) 923 2037

Dr Stefanie Vandevijvere

The University of Auckland

Citizen empowerment for creating healthy community environments in New Zealand

$150,000, 24 months

Telephone: (09) 923 8489

ENDS

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