RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. Laughlin focuses his research on cardiovascular effects of exercise. The primary goal is to understand the effects of exercise training on the coronary circulation and skeletal muscle vascular beds. Exercise training produces increases in the capacity of myocardial and skeletal muscle vascular beds to transport oxygen and other nutrients.
The training-induced changes in vascular transport capacity are associated with growth of new capillaries, enlargement of arteries and veins, and alterations in factors that control blood flow in the heart and skeletal muscle. The lab is currently investigating the mechanisms responsible for these changes.
Studies are conducted with: isolated hearts, isolated muscle tissue, single blood vessels and in conscious, chronically instrumented animals during exercise. To allow examination of the relationship among vascular adaptations and the response of the myocytes to training-induced increases in the functional demands of the muscles, the effects of training on biochemical and histological characteristics of the muscles are also measured.
Dr. Laughlin’s research, which is supported by the PPG, evaluates the role of exercise training-induced changes in endothelial phenotype in the protective effects of exercise on atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Johnson, L. R., J. W. E. Rush, J. R. Turk, E. M. Price, and M. H. Laughlin. Short-term exercise training increases Ach-induced relaxation and eNOS protein in porcine pulmonary arteries. J. Appl. Physiol., 90: 1102-1110, 2001.
Schrage, W. G. CR Woodman, and Laughlin MH: Mechanisms of flow and ACh-induced dilation in rat soleus arterioles are altered by hindlimb unweighting. J. Appl. Physiol., 92:901-911, 2002.
Aaker, A. and Laughlin M. H. Diaphragm arterioles are less responsive to a1-adrenergic constriction than gastrocnemius arterioles. J. Appl. Physiol., 92:1808-1816, 2002.
Woodman, C. R., J. R. Turk, James W. E. Rush, and Laughlin M. H. Exercise attenuates the effects of hypercholesterolemia on endothelium-dependent relaxation in coronary arteries from adult female pigs. J. Appl. Physiol., 96:1105-1113, 2004.
Thompson, M. A., K. K. Henderson, C. R. Woodman, J. R. Turk, James W. E. Rush, and M. H. Laughlin. Exercise Preserves Endothelium-Dependent Relaxation in Coronary Arteries of Hypercholesterolemic Male Pigs. J. Appl. Physiol., 96:1114-1126, 2004.
Laughlin M.H. Joseph B. Wolfe Memorial lecture. Physical Activity in Prevention and Treatment of Coronary Disease: The Battle Line is in Exercise Vascular Cell Biology. Med. & Sci. In Sports & Exercise. 36:352-362, 2004.