Stephane Bourque

Dr Stephane Bourque

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Education:
PhD Pharmacology and Toxicology, Queen's University, 2009
BScH Life Sciences, Queen's University, 2003

Teaching:

Research: Mechanisms of blood pressure control and vascular function in health and disease

Research Interests / Laboratory Techniques

My research interests focus on mechanisms that contribute to normal and accelerated age-related decline in cardiovascular function. My work involves two broad areas of cardiovascular pharmacology. The first focuses on mechanisms by which stressors during pregnancy alter the developmental trajectory of the fetus, which in turn influence the offspring's susceptibility to chronic diseases in later life. The developing fetus is highly vulnerable to insults (e.g. iron deficiency, hypoxia) which can induce lasting functional changes in key organ systems that progress with time, resulting in accelerated age-related decline. By extension, targeted therapies during critical windows of development may provide protection and confer long-term health benefits to the offspring. My laboratory employs a number of strategies to understand how prenatal stressors and therapeutics impact fetal development and long-term cardiovascular health in the offspring. The second area focuses on mechanisms by which anesthetic agents (and other pharmacological agents) affect vascular function and blood pressure regulation; my laboratory works closely with colleagues in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and Surgery to address important clinical issues (e.g. perioperative hypotension, anemia) that impact surgical outcomes and subsequent patient recovery, particularly in the elderly.

Selected Recent Publications

Care AS, Sung MM, Panahi S, Gragasin FS, Dyck JR, Davidge ST and Bourque SL. (2016) Perinatal Resveratrol Supplementation to Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat Dams Mitigates the Development of Hypertension in Adult Offspring. Hypertension 67(5):1038-44. PMID: 26928803.

Fraser GM, Morton JS, Schmidt SM, Bourque S, Davidge ST, Davenport MH and Steinback CD. (2015) Reduced uterine perfusion pressure decreases functional capillary density in skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 309(12):H2002-7. PMID: 26475590.

Care AS, Bourque SL, Morton JS, Hjartarson EP and Davidge ST. (2015) Effect of advanced maternal age on pregnancy outcomes and vascular function in the rat. Hypertension 65(6):1324-30. PMID: 25916720.

Sipos PI, Bourque SL, Ridgeway A, Hubel CA, Baker PN, Sibley CP, Davidge ST and Crocker IP. (2013) Endothelial colony-forming cells derived from pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction are fewer and have reduced vasculogenic capacity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 98(12):4953-60. PMID: 24106289.

Bourque SL, Gragasin FS, Quon AL, Mansour Y, Morton JS and Davidge ST. (2013) Prenatal hypoxia causes long-term alterations in vascular endothelin-1 function in aged male, but not female, offspring. Hypertension 62(4):753-8. PMID: 23940196.

Bourque SL, Kuny S, Reyes LM, Davidge ST and Sauvé Y. (2013) Prenatal hypoxia is associated with long-term retinal dysfunction in rats. PLoS One 8(4):e61861. PMID: 23610595.

Sipos PI, Rens W, Schlecht H, Fan X, Wareing M, Hayward C, Hubel CA, Bourque S, Baker PN, Davidge ST, Sibley CP and Crocker IP. (2013) Uterine vasculature remodeling in human pregnancy involves functional macrochimerism by endothelial colony forming cells of fetal origin. Stem Cells. 31(7):1363-70. PMID: 23554274.

Gragasin FS, Bourque SL and Davidge ST. (2013) Propofol increases vascular relaxation in aging rats chronically treated with the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril. Anesth Analg 116(4):775-83. PMID: 23429803

Abdalvand A, Morton JS, Bourque SL, Quon AL and Davidge ST. (2013) Matrix metalloproteinase enhances big-endothelin-1 constriction in mesenteric vessels of pregnant rats with reduced uterine blood flow. Hypertension 61(2):488-93. PMID: 23297376

Gragasin FS, Bourque SL and Davidge ST. (2012) Vascular aging and hemodynamic stability in the intraoperative period. Front Physiol. 3:74. PMID: 22485091

Bourque SL, Dolinsky VW, Dyck JRB and Davidge ST. (2012) Maternal resveratrol treatment during pregnancy improves adverse fetal outcomes in a rat model of severe hypoxia. Placenta 33(5):449-52. PMID: 22321195

Bourque SL, Komolova M, McCabe K, Adams MA and Nakatsu K. (2012) Perinatal iron deficiency combined with a high-fat diet causes obesity and cardiovascular dysregulation. Endocrinology. 153(3):1174-82. PMID: 22210741

Bourque SL, Whittingham HA, Brien SE, Davidge ST and Adams MA. (2012) Role of endothelin-1 in the hyper-responsiveness to nitrovasodilators following acute NOS inhibition. Br J Pharmacol. 165(6):1992-9. PMID: 21951225

Bourque SL, Davidge ST and Adams MA. (2011) The interaction between endothelin-1 and nitric oxide in the vasculature: new perspectives. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 300(6):R1288-95. PMID: 21368267

Bourque SL, Benjamin CD, Adams MA and Nakatsu K. (2010) Lack of hemodynamic effects after extended heme synthesis inhibition by succinylacetone. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 333(1):290-96. PMID: 20071481

Bourque SL, Komolova M, Nakatsu K and Adams MA. (2008) Long-term circulatory consequences of perinatal iron deficiency in male Wistar rats. Hypertension. 51(1):154-59. PMID: 17967999