Heart failure: New drug could halt disease and improve heart function
Heart failure occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump blood effectively. Current treatments can slow or stop the disease getting worse, but they can't regress it. Now, scientists have designed a molecule that could not only curb heart failure but also improve the heart's blood pumping ability.
The researchers in Brazil and the United States who developed and tested the experimental drug have named it "SAM?A," which is short for "selective antagonist of mitofusin 1-?2PKC association."
When the researchers gave it to rats with heart failure, the molecule not only stopped the disease from progressing but also reduced its severity by improving the ability of heart muscle to contract.
The journal Nature Communications has now published a paper on how the researchers developed SAM?A and tested it on heart cells and rodent models of heart failure.
"The drugs in current use," says first study author Julio C. B. Ferreira, who is a professor in the Biomedical Science Institute at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, "halt [the] progression of the disease but never make it regress."
SAM?A works by blocking a specific interaction between the proteins mitofusin 1 (Mfn1) and beta II protein kinase C (?2PKC) whose association impairs mitochondria in heart muscle cells, causing the cells to die. Mitochondria are tiny compartments inside cell bodies that make the chemical energy cells need to function and live.
"We showed that by regulating this specific interaction, we could both halt [the] progression and make the disease regress to a less severe stage," Prof. Ferreira explains.
Heart failure and causes
According to the most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2016 there were around 5.7 million people in the United States living with heart failure.
The body's organs and tissues require a constant supply of oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to function and stay in good health.
Heart failure arises when the heart's ability to pump blood does not match the body's needs.
In a healthy heart, the heart muscle contracts and pumps freshly oxygenated blood into the aorta from where it travels to the rest of the body.
In a person with heart failure, the heart muscle is weak or damaged and does not fully contract, leaving some blood left to pool inside the organ.
People with heart failure often feel tired and fatigued and may experience shortness of breath as they go about their everyday lives. They can also struggle to breathe when they lie down, and they can put on weight due to swelling in the stomach, ankles, feet, or legs.
The most common causes of heart failure are diseases and conditions that weaken or damage the heart. These include coronary artery disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
