Improving coronary heart disease outcomes

Alongside his experience in carrying out thousands of cardiac procedures as well as some of the most complex coronary and structural interventions, Professor Sanjay Patel is leading research and clinical trials to improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease.

Clinical Trials

Over the last 10 years, Prof Sanjay Patel has developed a novel field of research in Australia into vascular inflammation, linking molecular pathways with clinical effects, with one focus on the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine. A selection of these papers are shown below.

Research and Clinical Trials

Prof Sanjay Patel has published over 100 research papers and has developed a novel field of research in Australia into vascular inflammation, linking molecular pathways with clinical effects, with one focus on the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine. A selection of these papers are shown below.

This program has attracted more than $14 million in peer-reviewed funding in the last 4 years. He currently co-lead three colchicine trials; the MRFF and NHMRC-funded trials: COLCARDIO-ACS ($4.2 million), CASPER ($2.97 million) and IMPACT-ICO ($0.97 million). These trials are also supported in part by Aspen Pharmacare. Co-investigators on these studies are national and international leaders in heart attack and stroke research.

Colchicine Therapy and Plaque Stabilization in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: A CT Coronary Angiography Study

Kaivan Vaidya, Clare Arnott, Gonzalo J Martínez, Bernard Ng, Samuel McCormack, David R Sullivan, David S Celermajer, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: JACC imaging. 2018. 11:305-316.

In this highly cited paper, Prof Patel showed for the first time that a dedicated anti-inflammatory agent (colchicine) could stabilise vulnerable coronary plaque in humans. The publication was editorialised in iJACC by Paul Ridker (an international authority on athero-inflammation) and received considerable media attention (TCTmd, heart.org websites, Channel 7 news).

Read more about the research

Colchicine acutely suppresses local cardiac production of inflammatory cytokines in patients with an acute coronary syndrome

Gonzalo J Martínez, , Stacy Robertson, Jennifer Barraclough, Qiong Xia, Ziad Mallat, Christina Bursill, David S Celermajer, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: JAHA. 2015. 4: e002128

The first paper from Prof Patel’s program highlighted the discovery that inflammasome-related cytokines are increased in heart attack patients and reduced by single dose colchicine. This paper was editorialised by Mark Nidorf (lead author of seminal LoDoCo2 colchicine trial in stable coronary disease patients), and received significant media coverage (Sydney Morning Herald, radio).

The NLRP3 Inflammasome and the emerging role of colchicine to inhibit atherosclerosis-associated inflammation

Gonzalo J Martínez, David S Celermajer, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: Atherosclerosis. 2018. 269:262-271.

Read more about the Trial

Colchicine Therapy in Patients Presenting with an Acute Coronary Syndrome acts on Caspase-1 to Suppress NLRP3 Inflammasome Monocyte Activation

Stacy Robertson, Gonzalo J Martínez, Cloe A Payet, Jennifer Y Barraclough, David S Celermajer, Christina Bursill, Sanjay Patel (senior author).

Publication: Clin Sci. 2016. 30:1237-46.

Colchicine for Stroke Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Chinmay Khandkar, Kaivan Vaidya, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: Clinical Therapeutics. 2019. 41: 582-590.

Colchicine as a novel therapy for suppressing chemokine production in patients with an acute coronary syndrome – A pilot study

Bradley Tucker, , Rahul Kurup, Jennifer Barraclough, Rodney Henriquez, Siân Cartland, Clare Arnott, Ashish Misra, Gonzalo Martínez, Mary Kavurma, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: Clin Ther. 2019. 41:2172-2181.

A MicroRNA Signature in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients and Modulation by Colchicine

Jennifer Y Barraclough, Mugdha V Joglekar, Andrzej S Januszewski, Gonzalo Martínez, David S Celermajer, Anthony C Keech, Anandwardhan A Hardikar, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author)

Publication: Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2020. 25:444-455.

Colchicine inhibits neutrophil extracellular trap formation in acute coronary syndrome patients after percutaneous coronary intervention

Kaivan Vaidya, Bradley Tucker, Sanjay Patel (Senior Author), Rahul Kurup, Chinmay Khandkar, Elvis Pandzic, Jennifer Barraclough, Joshua Machet, Ashish Misra, Mary Kavurma, Gonzalo Martinez, Kerry-Anne Rye, Blake J Cochran

Publication: J Am Heart Assoc. 2021. 10:e018993.

Colchicine in Cardiovascular Disease: In Depth Review

Spyridon G Deftereos, Sanjay Patel, Frans J Beerkens, Binita Shah, George Giannopoulos, Dimitrios A Vrachatis, Sotiria G Giotaki, Gerasimos Siasos, Johny Nicolas, Clare Arnott, Sanjay Patel, Mark Parsons, Jean-Claude Tardif, Jason C Kovacic, George D Dangas

Publication: Circulation. 2022. 145:61-78. Doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.056171.

The low dose colchicine after myocardial infarction (LoDoCo-MI) study: a pilot randomised placebo controlled trial of colchicine following acute myocardial infarction

Thomas Hennessy, Linda Soh, Mitchell Bowman, Rahul Kurup, Carl Schultz, Sanjay Patel, Graham S Hillis

Publication: American Heart Journal 215, 62-69.