Opening Keynote address I Prof Arduino Mangoni
| Tuesday, December 9, 2025 |
| 5:20 PM - 6:15 PM |
| Hall C Lower Section |
Details
Experimental and clinical evidence continues to grow, supporting the critical role of dysregulated inflammation, immunity, and redox signalling in the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and hypertension. While much research is ongoing to discover new anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory treatments for these conditions, existing anti-rheumatic drugs may serve a similar purpose. One such drug, methotrexate, has been successfully used at high doses since the 1940s as an anticancer agent and, more recently, repurposed at lower doses as an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating agent in patients with autoimmune diseases. Epidemiological studies over the past 20 years have also shown that low-dose methotrexate treatment is associated with a decreased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes in patients with autoimmune conditions. This knowledge has prompted intervention studies investigating the effects of low-dose methotrexate on blood pressure and cardiovascular risk in patients both with and without autoimmune disorders. While methotrexate’s therapeutic effects have traditionally been associated with its antiproliferative activity through modulation of folate metabolism, several additional targets have been identified more recently. These include AMP-activated protein kinase, Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription, high mobility group box 1 protein, gut microbiota, and other pharmacological effects of adenosine, a key mediator of methotrexate’s anti-inflammatory actions. The available evidence suggests the potential for further repurposing of methotrexate to prevent and manage cardiometabolic diseases in specific patient groups and emphasizes the importance of pharmacogenetic factors in identifying these groups.
Speaker
Prof Arduino Mangoni
Strategic Professor Of Clinical Pharmacology
Flinders University
Repurposing the repurposed: the evolving journey of methotrexate
Biography
Arduino Mangoni is a Strategic Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at Flinders University, Senior Consultant in Clinical Pharmacology and General Medicine, and Head of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Flinders Medical Centre.
Professor Mangoni has contributed to the development and updates of the ‘Australian Hypertension Guidelines,’ the ‘Australian Guidelines on the Use of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring for the Management of Hypertension,’ and the SIGN guidelines on the ‘Management of Chronic Pain.’
He has received approximately $15 million in research funding and published 454 articles and 24 book chapters in the fields of cardiovascular pathophysiology and pharmacology, geriatric pharmacology, biomarker discovery, and drug discovery/repurposing. He co-edited the books “Prescribing for Elderly Patients” and “Optimizing Pharmacotherapy in Older Adults – An Interdisciplinary Approach.” He is the Editor-in-Chief of “Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety” and Senior/Executive Editor of “Age & Ageing” and “British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.”
Professor Mangoni was named a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society in 2012 and a Fellow of the International Society of Hypertension in 2020 for his exceptional work in hypertension research and patient care. In 2019, he received an Honorary Professorship in Clinical Pharmacology from Technische Universität Dresden.
Chair
Bridin Murnion
Senior Staff Specialist
St Vincent's Hospital / UNSW Sydney
