Dr. Mahmoud’s laboratory is ultimately interested in developing new drugs for the treatment of pregnant patients that diminish the effects of the drug on the fetus. He is especially focused on the development of opiate agonists for treatment of the opiate addict, hypoglycemic drugs in gestational diabetes, and anti-nicotine antibodies for treatment nicotine addiction in pregnancy. Over the last two decades, Dr. Ahmed’s laboratory has provided information on the molecular mechanism(s) leading to the development of tolerance of opiates utilizing human placenta as a model system.
His laboratory identified the role of opiate receptors in human placenta, a noninnervated tissue, as well as their endogenous ligand (dynorphon 1-8) and mediated responses (regulation of hCG and acetylcholine release), and demonstrated that the in vitro and/or in vivo exposure of human placenta to opiates leads to the development of tolerance. His laboratory also identified a cocaine binding protein in human placenta and conducted a clinical investigation of cocaine use during pregnancy and its effects on maternal and neonatal outcomes. Recently, his laboratory identified the role of human placenta as a functional barrier protecting the fetus from exposure to therapeutic agents by its disposition of the drugs. Dr. Ahmed’s future research interests include translational and clinical investigations of therapeutics used for treatment of the pregnant patient.
Copyright © 2019 TESCT. Developed by BayState InfoTech.
