Caroline M. Kistorp MD, PhD

Professor Caroline Kistorp' s scientific research area lies in the complications of endocrine disorders, with a focus on heart failure (HF) and CVD. She has established a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and subsequent poor prognosis among patients with concomitant heart failure, with a potential key role of adipocyte dysfunction. With substantial experience in biomarker research, she has contributed with knowledge of the prognostic value of the cardiac natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), which is one of the few biomarkers with clinical impact today, being recommended in international guidelines.

With the focus on patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiac complications, Professor Kistorp has initiated various RCTs investigating the mechanism behind their markedly increased risk of HF and CVD deaths, exploring new treatment strategies. In the MIRAD RCT, the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) as a common pathogentic mechanism in type 2 diabetes and HF has been investigated, and in original data she pointed at reduced adipocyte fibrosis with an MR antagonist. In the SIMPLE and EMPIRE I and II RCTs, the mechanisms behind the beneficial impact of SGLT-2 inhibitors are investigated in patients with type 2 diabetes and HF respectively.

Professor Kistorp's research focus has in recent years moved to the novel endocrine disorder, which is emerging with the increasingly widespread misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS). In cross-sectional studies, with original data, she demonstrated that endocrine long term complications such as hypogonadism and reduced fertility, impaired glucose and lipid metabolism, and adverse cardiac structure and function may persist among younger men with previous abuse of AAS years after cessation. The evidence from the initial AAS research has prompted her to advance this novel area in endocrinology through longitudinal studies and ongoing RCTs.