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by LINDSAY DIEDRICH
Lifestyles Reporter
Below the basketball floor and bleachers, Appalachian State University professors are attempting to make scientific history.
Professors from the Department of Health, Leisure, and Exercise Science (HLES) are doing a wide variety of research, but one particular professor’s research stands out, Dr. John C. Quindry.
“I’m trying to find solutions against heart attack damage,” Quindry, assistant professor for HLES, said. “If I can knock out heart attack protection in an exercised rat then I can say, ‘Aha! I’ve discovered one of the keys to heart attack protection."
The research is conducted by performing experiments on the hearts of rats that have been exercised versus
 Dr. John C. Quindry prepares a laboratory rat for surgery by shaving away a spot of its hair for the incision. Quindry hopes the research will lead to heart attack prevention or protection. Photo by James Fay
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sedentary rats.
“I
compare exercised animals who receive a heart attack to sedentary
animals that receive a heart attack, the exercised do better,” Quindry
said.
The rat feels no pain throughout the entire procedure.
“First thing I am going to do is make sure they are in the surgical plane for anesthesia,” Quindry said.
Anesthesia will continually be administered throughout the experiment
to assure that the process is completely humane, Quindry said.
“From
the surgery it will take two hours and 50 minutes after I begin
experiment on the heart,” Quindry said. “Fifty minutes of ischemia,
heart attack, and two hours of reperfusion, post heart attack, where
blood flow is reestablished.”
Quindry hopes the research will lead to heart attack protection without the need of exercise.
“It may be that you could turn on protection without exercise,” Quindry said.
“There
are many people for whom exercise is not appropriate, people with
advanced heart disease,” Quindry said. “I hope that my research can be
elemental in the discovery of a new medication that will turn on
protection should a heart attack occur, and buy time for those at
significant risk of heart attack.”
The rat must die to obtain the necessary data.
“I need
to be able to cut very small sections of the heart muscle tissue and go
in and stain to look for exactly one protein or exactly one enzyme. I
need the tissue to do that,” Quindry said.
Although the rat’s life is lost, the sacrifice is not unnoticed.
“I make
it a point to thank every rat that I use, not that the rat
understands,” Quindry said. “I think that it helps me to keep the mind
set of not becoming chalice to the sacrifice.”
The department shows enumerable support for Quindry’s research.
“Dr.
Quindry is the first person of ours to receive a grant from the
National Institute of Health (NIH),” professor and chair for the HLES
department, Dr. Paul Gaskill said.
The department has high expectations for Quindry’s research.
“Potentially
[Quindry’s research] can lead to a complete understanding of exactly
what fitness level needs to be obtained to prevent heart attack and or
survive a heart attack,” Gaskill said. “He is a real asset for the
department.”
Quindry’s research is offbeat compared to most in his field of study.
“My
research is unique from most people who study what I study,” Quindry
said. “I use exercise as a tool to understanding the biochemistry of
the heart muscle.”
Exercise is the most basic form of heart protection.
“Why exercise? Because it is a natural protective stress for the heart,” Quindry said.
The administration’s support can be shown in their facilities.
“The
animal care facility is clean and well-run,” Quindry said. “The
facility has been so nice to work with and at some universities it’s a
real struggle, but not here.”
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