Professor Lionel Opie stands out as one of South Africa’s foremost cardiology physician-scientists. His lifelong work has led to a better understanding of the causes of heart attacks and the improved use of heart medications.
Opie is currently Director Emeritus of the Hatter Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT). His scientific work focuses on the cellular molecular mechanisms of fatal heart attacks. This is underpinned by a fundamental hypothesis regarding the interaction between free fatty acids in the blood, the release of adrenaline, the administration of insulin and the use of glucose by the heart.
Opie proposes a single hypothesis for the relationship between Metabolic Syndrome (overweight persons with slightly high blood pressures and a moderate elevation of blood sugar) and diabetes. His research shows that too much fat liberates excess fatty acids, which then block glucose uptake. As a result, blood sugar levels go up which can lead to diabetes.
In his late seventies, Opie is still an active researcher and, with Professor Sandrine Lecour and her group, he is currently working on how to reduce the number of oxygen-destroyed heart cells that occur during heart surgery. “Basically, a heart attack occurs when a blood vessel is blocked, resulting in part of the heart dying. But when the blocked artery is opened to restore blood flow, the sudden return of oxygen means that certain cells are destroyed,” says Opie.
In 2006, Opie received the Order of Mapungubwe (Silver), the highest presidential award in South Africa, for national and international contributions to cardiology. For the past 10 years, Opie has held a highly ranked A rating by the National Research Foundation and he was elected, in 2008, as a grade A1 scientist by the National Research Foundation. Among other honours he holds an Honorary Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Copenhagen.
“After graduating from UCT and studying at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, I met with Professor Brink at Stellenbosch University. It was he who suggested I study the metabolism of the heart, that is, how the heart produces energy,” says Opie. He went back to Oxford to work with the Nobel Laureate Sir Hans Krebs who described the Krebs cycle that makes the energy needed for the heart to contract.
He was also a Research Fellow at Harvard in myocardial metabolism. In 1976, he became a Life Fellow of the University of Cape Town. During this time, he was also President of the International Society for Heart Research (1976-1978) and of the South African Cardiac Society (1980-1982) Opie was Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford and the Department of Physiology, England in 1997. From 1984 to 1998, he was Visiting Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, at Stanford University Medical Centre.
In his early academic career, Opie established two new Journals, that of the International Society for Heart Research and of the Society for Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy. “From an international impact, I am probably best known for the books that I write,” says Opie. His dissemination of heart drug therapy information through ‘Drugs for the Heart’, now in its eighth edition, has become a standard reference on the treatment of heart disease.
During an illustrious career, Opie has published 481 scientific articles, 31 books on heart disease and 141 contributions to other books. This includes a lifestyle self-help book called ‘Living longer, living better‘ which recently won a UK medical journalist award. His work outside of research involves organising the annual meetings for ‘Cardiology at the Limits’. This forum hosts speakers, throughout the field of cardiology, who are at the forefront of research. Thirty-six countries were represented at the last meeting.
Opie also strongly supports the South African Hypertension Society which brings international experts into the country. This leads to key knowledge transfer as hypertension is one of the major killers in South Africa, causing strokes and heart and kidney failure.
“My passion centres on how to protect the heart. In this case, not from cardiovascular disease, but when the heart muscle is damaged. This could be due to high blood pressure, after a heart attack, when diabetes is involved or for unknown reasons,” says Opie.
His belief is that there is a complex heart-defence system and Opie and his team have found ways to stimulate the system as a protection from future heart damage. According to this internationally-recognised heart specialist, no researcher functions on his or her own and that acknowledgment of the team involved is important.
“My team has continued to build up over the years, evolving and expanding in a different direction. The Institute for Cardiovascular Research now has an Africa focus and is led by Professor Karen Sliwa. While I have been nominated for the award, there are numerous people, headed by Professor Sandrine Lecour, that support me and that needs to be recognised,” says Opie.
This article originally appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper as an advertorial supplement