RAMB Julho/Agosto 2015

life

dedicated

ardiology

ssoc

ras

2015; 61(4):293-294

293

HOMAGE

A life dedicated to Cardiology

vida

dedicada

ardiologia

ésar

eixeira

Managing editor,

Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1806-9282.61.04.293

Although himself thinks that his greatest achievement

has been teaching and training other professionals, no

one can deny that a key legacy of Protásio Lemos da Luz,

former full professor of cardiology at the Medical School

of Universidade de São Paulo and currently senior re-

searcher at Instituto do Coração (InCor), was his pioneer-

ing role in the transfer of knowledge from the basic area

to clinical practice, through the publication of various

studies. The fact is that his dedication to medicine earned

him, recently, the 2014 edition of the Conrado Wessel

Foundation award.

Graduated from Universidade do Paraná’s Medical

School, his inclination for research began in 1971, with

the opportunity of spending two years at the Holywood

Presbiterian Medical Center, connected to the Universi-

ty of Southern California, in Los Angeles, where he exten-

sively researched cardiogenic shock. After a brief period

back in Brazil for the defense of his doctoral dissertation,

he went back to the United States (US), this time as a car-

diology researcher at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,

University of California (UCLA).

After returning from the US to work in the experi-

mental research division of Incor, professor Protásio

sought to continue his studies of myocardial ischemia.

In Los Angeles, he had actively participated in the inves-

tigation that led to the characterization of the “hibernat-

ing myocardium”, that is, the state in which the myocar-

dium does not contract, but remains viable. This was a

topic of great importance, to which several groups dedi-

cated themselves, and that led to the establishment of the

ideal time for reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction;

it is now established around 90 minutes for the treatment

of human stroke, being adopted throughout the world.

Next, he turned his attention to the vascular endothe-

lium, creating a laboratory specifically for this field of study,

and publishing many works, including a book entitled

En-

dotélio e Doenças Cardiovasculares

(Endothelium and Cardio-

vascular Diseases), which ended up being honored with

the Jabuti award, in 2004, for establishing the main nor-

mal characteristics of normal and diseased endothelium.

Atherosclerosis was the subject of other studies, es-

pecially on non-invasive diagnostics, such as magnetic

resonance imaging of coronary artery. Professor Protásio

examined the relationship between triglycerides and high-

-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), noticing a cor-

relation at an early stage of the disease when the triglyc-

erides/HDL-c ratio would increase. This is an important

finding, because it identifies patients most at risk of de-

veloping this asymptomatic disease.

Red wine was also part of his studies, who sought the

relationship between wine and atherosclerosis. He began

with animals using rabbits fed with a cholesterol-rich diet

for 3 months, causing severe atherosclerosis in the aorta.

Other two groups received wine and grape juice, in addi-

tion of the same diet. Both showed less atherosclerotic

plaques. The series progressed, comparing groups in two

different regions of the country – the states of Rio Grande

do Sul and São Paulo – involving groups of chronic drink-

ers (4-5 times a week) and nondrinkers. The group of drink-

ers had higher HDL-c and lower blood glucose; however,

the degree of atherosclerotic lesions was not different. The

curious finding was that the group of drinkers had more

coronary calcium. Professor Protásio proposed that this

means that the consumption of red wine leads to long-

term stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques and, thus, less

clinical events. This was corroborated by a recent study

published in the

Journal of the American College of Cardiology

(JACC), in which the authors demonstrated that the use of

high statin doses in men induced reduction of plaques, but

also increased calcification.

Another work focused on cognitive function, also

comparing drinkers and nondrinkers, analyzed by func-

Protásio Lemos da Luz

Former full professor of Faculdade de

Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo

and currently senior researcher of the

Instituto do Coração (InCor)

Crédito: divulgação