Dr. Hong Sun awarded a $1.8M competing continuation for his R01 grant from the NIH National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism for his project, "Light Alcohol Consumption and Ischemic Stroke," July, 2023.
Dr. Jiyu Li won a 1st place in the Best Poster Predoc Category at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the South Central Society of Toxicology.
Ms. Kimberly McCarter won a 1st place in the Best Poster Predoc Category at the 2017 Annual Conference of the North Louisiana Society of Neuroscience.
Dr. Chun Li won a 2nd place in the Best Poster Postdoc Category at the 2017 Annual Conference of LSU Health Shreveport Graduate Research Day.
Dr. Hong Sun has been awarded a five-year $1.63 million grant by the National Institutes of Health. He is the principal investigator of the project that will advance understanding of ischemic stroke during chronic alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is one of the most commonly used and abused chemical substances. Epidemiological studies indicate that heavy ethanol consumption increases the incidence of ischemic stroke and worsens the prognosis of ischemic stroke, whereas low-moderate ethanol intake lowers the incidence of ischemic stroke and reduce mortality and infarct volume from ischemic stroke. Consistently, we recently found that alcohol consumption dose-dependently alters ischemic brain damage in rodents. The mechanisms underlying ischemic brain damage are complex and involve several interacting elements, including excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and autophagy. We are currently studying whether and how alcohol consumption affects post-ischemic oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and autophagy.
There are several other elements contributing to ischemic brain damage, such as cerebrovascular function, post-ischemic hyperemia, and BBB dysfunction. Dilation of the pre-existing collateral arteries during ischemia is a critical mechanism for regional CBF rebuilding. Dilation of cerebral arteries in the ischemic area during reperfusion results in a hyperemia. Early BBB disruption can be found as early as within first hour of reperfusion. We are currently studying their roles in ischemic brain damage in mouse models of alcohol consumption, obesity, and aging.
Hong Sun, Kenji Kanamaru, Masaaki Ito, Hidenori Suzuki, Tadashi Kojima, Shiro Waga, Yasuko Kureishi, and Takeshi Nagano. Myosin light chain phosphorylation and contractile proteins in a canine two hemorrhage model of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke. 29: 2149-2154, 1998
Hong Sun, Hong Zheng, Elizabeth Molacek, Qin Fang, Kaushik P. Patel, William G. Mayhan. Role of NAD(P)H oxidase in alcohol-induced impairment of endothelial nitric oxide synthase-dependent dilation of cerebral arterioles. Stroke. 37(2): 495-500, 2006
Hong Sun, Elizabeth Molacek, Hong Zheng, Qin Fang, Kaushik P. Patel, William G. Mayhan. Alcohol-induced impairment of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-dependent dilation of cerebral arterioles: role of NAD(P)H oxidase. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 40(2): 321-328, 2006
Honggang Zhao, William G. Mayhan, Denise M. Arrick, Wanfen Xiong, *Hong Sun. Alcohol-induced exacerbation of ischemic brain injury: Role of NADPH oxidase. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 34(11): 1948-1955, 2010
Hong Sun, Wanfen Xiong, Denise M. Arrick, William G. Mayhan. Low-Dose Alcohol Consumption Protects Against Transient Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Mice: Role of PPAR γ. PLoS One. 7(7): e41716, 2012
Zheng Jiang, Chun Li, Morganne L. Manuel, Shuai Yuan, Christopher G. Kevil, Kimberly D. McCarter, Wei Lu, Hong Sun. Role of hydrogen sulfide in early-stage blood-brain barrier disruption following transient focal cerebral ischemia. PLoS One. 10(2): e0117982, 2015
Chun Li, Zheng Jiang, Wei Lu, Denise M. Arrick, Kimberly D. McCarter, Hong Sun. Effect of obesity on early blood-brain barrier disruption following transient focal cerebral ischemia. Obesity Science & Practice. 2(1): 58-68, 2016
Kimberly D. McCarter, Chun Li, Zheng Jiang, Wei Lu, Hillary C. Smith, Guodong Xu, William G. Mayhan, Hong Sun. Effect of low-dose alcohol consumption on inflammation following transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Scientific Reports. 7(1): 12547, 2017
Kimberly D. McCarter, Chun Li, Jiyu Li, Guodong Xu, Hong Sun. Influence of low-dose alcohol consumption on post-ischemic inflammation: Role of cystathionine γ-lyase. Alcohol. 76(5):81-89, 2019
Guodong Xu, Chun Li, Anne Parsiola, Jiyu Li, Kimberly D. McCarter, Runhua Shi, William G. Mayhan, Hong Sun. Dose-dependent influences of ethanol on ischemic stroke: role of inflammation. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 13:6, 2019
Complete List of my Published Work in MyBibliography: LEARN MORE
Graduate Student
My project focuses on the role of TGFβR2 cell signaling in alcohol‑induced cerebral angiogenesis under basal conditions and following ischemic stroke.
Shaghayegh Akbari, BS
Graduate Student
My project focuses on the influence of alcohol on blood–brain barrier (BBB) integrity under basal conditions and following ischemic stroke.
Sagar Bhandari, MS
Research Associate
I am investigating the impact of chronic alcohol consumption on neurogenesis under basal conditions and following ischemic stroke.
