Mahmoud S. Ahmed, Ph.D.

Professor

Director, Laboratory of Maternal & Fetal Pharmacology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Affiliations: Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Graduate Faculty, Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Human Biological Chemistry & Genetics

Phone: (409) 772-0977
Fax: (409) 747-1669
Email: maahmed@utmb.edu

Education

• 1964 - B.Sc., (Chemistry and Botany), Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
• 1969 - M.Sc., (Biochemistry), Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
• 1974 - Ph.D., (Biochemistry), College of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee
• 1975-1977, Postdoctoral Fellow (Biochemistry), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

research interests

Pregnancy is associated with physiological changes that include the pharmacokinetics of administered medications. Human placenta plays a crucial role in regulating fetal growth and development as well as its protection from xenobiotics and administered medications. Investigations in our laboratory focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying the disposition of therapeutic agents used for treatment of the opiate addict and hypoglycemic drugs used for treatment of gestational diabetes. In addition, we are collaborating with other investigators on developing new drugs for treatment of nicotine addiction during pregnancy. Dr. Ahmed's laboratory, over the last two decades, has provided information on the molecular mechanism(s) leading to the development of tolerance to opiates utilizing human placenta as a model system. His laboratory identified the role of opiate receptors in human placenta, a noninnervated tissue, their endogenous ligand (dynorphin 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 outcome. 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.

Specifically:

Disposition of therapeutics by human placenta

Development of medications for treatment of the pregnant opiate addict and gestational diabetes

The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of tolerance to opiates during pregnancy

Biographical Information

Dr. Ahmed received his B.Sc. degree (1964, Chemistry and Botany), M.Sc. degree (1969, Biochemistry) from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt and Ph.D. (1974, Biochemistry) from the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee. Postdoctoral training in Biochemistry was at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Dr. Ahmed spent 10 years on the faculty of the Biochemistry Department, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis; 16 years at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the Schools of Medicine, departments of Ob/Gyn and Basic Medical Science; School of Biological Sciences, division of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and the School of Pharmacy, division of Pharmacology. During his tenure as a faculty member in the two universities, he spent 6 weeks as a visiting scholar at NIH and one year as a visiting associate professor at Kansas University School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology. He joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 2002.

Dr. Ahmed received awards for excellence in teaching of biochemistry to medical and nursing students. He received the outstanding interdisciplinary Ph.D. faculty award in 2001. He also received awards for his efforts in the community in the area of drug abuse during pregnancy from the Kansas City Juvenile court and the March of Dimes and Birth Defects Foundation and was featured in numerous local newspaper articles and media interviews. Dr. Ahmed's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, private organizations and the Pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Ahmed receives invitations to lecture and conduct workshops in National and International scientific meetings on the effects of drugs of abuse during pregnancy on placental physiology, maternal and neonatal outcome. He chairs/co-chairs sessions in International meetings on placental pharmacology and toxicology. He was a South East Region speaker for Sigma Xi Society. He is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, the International Narcotics Research Conference and an affiliate member of the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine.

Selected Publications

Tatiana Nanovskaya, Ilona Nekhayeva, Nedra Karunaratne, Kenneth Audus, Gary D.V. Hankins, and Mahmoud S. Ahmed: Role of P-glycoprotein in Transplacental Transfer of Methadone. Biochem Pharmacol., In Press, 2005.

Ilona A. Nekhayeva, Tatiana N. Nanovskaya, Sujal V. Deshmukh, Olga L. Zharikova , Gary D. Hankins, Mahmoud S. Ahmed: Bidirectional Transfer of Methadone Across Human Placenta. Biochem Pharmacol., 69, 187-197, 2005.

Deshmukh, S.V., Nanovskaya, T.N. and Ahmed, M. S.: Aromatase is the major enzyme metabolizing buprenorphine in human placenta. J. Pharm. & Exp. Ther., 306, 1099-1105, 2003.

Nanovskaya, T.N., Deshmukh, S., Brooks, M. and Ahmed, M. S.: Transplacental transfer and metabolism of buprenorphine. J. Pharm. & Exp. Ther., 300, 26-33, 2002.

Cemerikic, B., Zamah, R. and Ahmed, M.S.: Identification of L-Type calcium channels associated with kappa opioid receptors in human placenta. J. Mol. Neurosci. 10, 261-272, 1998.

Cemerikic, B., Zamah, R. and Ahmed, M.S.: Opioids regulation of human chorionic gonadotropin release from trophoblast tissue is mediated by gonadotropin releasing hormone. J. Pharm. & Exp. Ther. 268, 971-977, 1994.

Ahmed, M.S., Schoof, T., Zhou, D. and Quarles, C.: Kappa opioid receptors of human placental villi modulate acetylcholine release. Life Sci. 45, 2383-2393, 1989.

Ahmed, M.S., Zhou, D., Cavinato, A.G. and Maulik, D.: Opioid binding properties of the purified kappa receptor from human placenta. Life Sci. 44, 861-871, 1989.

Ahmed, M.S., Randall, L.W., Sibai, B., Dass, C., Fridland, G., Desiderio, D.M. and Tolun, E.: Identification of dynorphin 1-8 in human placenta by mass spectroscopy. Life Sci. 40, 2067-2076, 1987.