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Marja van Dieijen Prize PreCIS

Marja van Dieijen Prize PreCIS

24 November 2023

After tallying both the audience score and the jury's score, the innovative project 'PreCIS, addressing medication prescribing cascades' won the Marja van Dieijen Award 2023, worth 25,000 euros.

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€22 million for international research into cardiovascular disease

€22 million for international research into cardiovascular disease

27 October 2023

Prof. Hans-Peter Brunner-La Rocca (Dept. of Cardiology) leads an international research project, focused on personalised prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

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Carim Maastricht
Carim Maastricht

Boy Houben

Associate professor

Alfons (Boy) Houben is Associate Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine of Maastricht UMC+. He graduated in Biology at the University of Nijmegen, and received his PhD, in Maastricht in 1993, on early microcirculatory changes in patients with type 1 diabetes. He has longstanding expertise in human (non-invasive) micro- and macrovascular function tests in combination with (pharmacological) interventions, and in the epidemiological setting (The Maastricht Study). Using this unique approach, his main research interest is on the role of microvascular dysfunction in cardiometabolic diseases. An additional focus in his present research is the effects of lifestyle modifications in order to improve microvascular function. He is Past-President of the European Society for Microcirculation, chair of the Dutch Society for Microcirculation and Vascular Biology, and member of several other international scientific societies.

The focus of my research for many years has been microvascular dysfunction (MVD) as both a cause and a consequence of (cardio)metabolic diseases. One important function of the microcirculation is to deliver oxygen/nutrients to all tissues and to remove waste products. In normal metabolism this includes the delivery of glucose, which taken up by the gut following a meal, to skeletal muscle in order to be stored as glycogen. For that, insulin plays an important role by stimulating the endothelium to produce nitric oxide (NO), which leads to recruitment of capillaries in skeletal muscle and thus an increase in exchange surface. As a result, both glucose and insulin can reach skeletal muscle cells quickly and easily in order to store glucose in the cells. In our working hypothesis, we state that MVD may disturb this insulin-mediated glucose delivery/uptake, leading to metabolic insulin resistance and contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes. Within the framework of The Maastricht Study (a population-based cohort study), we perform deep phenotyping of the microcirculation. By using this approach, we are looking for (early) determinants of MVD, and study the role of MVD in the development and progression of various diseases (e.g. (pre)diabetes, heart failure, and depression).

Boy-houben

Department of Internal Medicine
P. Debyelaan 25, 6229 HX Maastricht 
PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht

  • 2023
    • Feng, L., Ye, Z., Mo, C., Wang, J., Liu, S., Gao, S., Ke, H., Canida, T. A., Pan, Y., Greevenbroek, M. M. J. V., Houben, A. J. H. M., Wang, K., Hatch, K. S., Ma, Y., Lei, D. K. Y., Chen, C., Mitchell, B. D., Hong, L. E., Kochunov, P., ... Ma, T. (2023). Elevated blood pressure accelerates white matter brain aging among late middle-aged women: a Mendelian Randomization study in the UK Biobank. Journal of Hypertension. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003553
    • Linkens, A. M. A., Eussen, S. J. M. P., Houben, A. J. H. M., Mari, A., Dagnelie, P. C., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2023). Habitual intake of advanced glycation endproducts is not associated with worse insulin sensitivity, worse beta cell function, or presence of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes: The Maastricht Study. Clinical Nutrition, 42(8), 1491-1500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2023.05.021
    • Steegh, F. M. E. G., Keijbeck, A. A., de Hoogt, P. A., Rademakers, T., Houben, A. J. H. M., Reesink, K. D., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Daemen, M. J. A. P., & Peutz-Kootstra, C. J. (2023). Capillary rarefaction: a missing link in renal and cardiovascular disease?Angiogenesis. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10456-023-09883-8
    • van den Eynde, M. D. G., Houben, A. J. H. M., Scheijen, J. L. J. M., Linkens, A. M. A., Niessen, P. M., Simons, N., Hanssen, N. M. J., Kusters, Y. H. A. M., Eussen, S. J. M. P., Miyata, T., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2023). Pyridoxamine reduces methylglyoxal and markers of glycation and endothelial dysfunction, but does not improve insulin sensitivity or vascular function in abdominally obese individuals: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes Obesity & Metabolism, 25(5), 1280-1291. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.14977
    • van der Heide, F. C. T., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Henry, R. M. A., Kroon, A. A., van der Kallen, C. J. H., Dagnelie, P. C., van Dongen, M. C. J. M., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Schouten, J. S. A. G., Webers, C. A. B., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., Wesselius, A., Schalkwijk, C. G., Koster, A., Jansen, J. F. A., Backes, W. H., Beulens, J. W. J., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2023). Alcohol consumption and microvascular dysfunction: a J-shaped association: The Maastricht Study. Cardiovascular Diabetology, 22(1), Article 67. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12933-023-01783-x
    • Zhou, T. L., Schutten, M. T. J., Kroon, A. A., Henry, R. M. A., Houben, A. J. H. M., van der Kallen, C. J. H., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., de Leeuw, P. W., & Stehouwer, C. D. A. (2023). Urinary Sodium Excretion and Salt Intake Are Not Associated With Blood Pressure Variability in a White General Population. Journal of the American Heart Association, 12(1), Article e026578. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.122.026578
  • 2022
    • Maasen, K., Eussen, S. J. P. M., Dagnelie, P. C., Houben, A. J. H. M., Webers, C. A. B., Schram, M. T., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., Opperhuizen, A., van Greevenbroek, M. M. J., & Schalkwijk, C. G. (2022). Habitual intake of dietary methylglyoxal is associated with less low-grade inflammation: the Maastricht Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 116(6), 1715-1728. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac195
    • Janssen, L. E. F., Simons, N., Simons, P. I. H. G., Schaper, N. C., Feskens, E. J. M., van der Ploeg, L. M. C., Van den Eynde, M. D. G., Schalkwijk, C. G., Houben, A. J. H. M., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & Brouwers, M. C. G. J. (2022). Effects of fructose restriction on blood pressure: Secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 51, 97-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2022.07.009
    • van Dinther, M., Voorter, P. H. M., Schram, M. T., Berendschot, T. T. J. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Webers, C. A. B., van Oostenbrugge, R. J., Backes, W. H., Staals, J., & Jansen, J. F. A. (2022). Retinal microvascular function is associated with the cerebral microcirculation as determined by intravoxel incoherent motion MRI. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 440, Article 120359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2022.120359
    • Jin, S., Kusters, Y. H. A. M., Houben, A. J. H. M., Plat, J., Joris, P. J., Mensink, R. P., Schalkwijk, C. G., Stehouwer, C. D. A., & van Greevenbroek, M. M. J. (2022). A randomized diet-induced weight-loss intervention reduces plasma complement C3: Possible implication for endothelial dysfunction. Obesity, 30(7), 1401-1410. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23467
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