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FGEN > Drug could be repurposed to help heart attack patients

https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2018/august/drug-could-be-repurposed-to-help-heart-attack-patients

In the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers found that, after a heart attack, a protein called HIF acts to help heart cells survive.

In people with diabetes, fats accumulate within the heart muscle and stop the HIF protein from becoming active. This means that a person is more likely to suffer lasting heart muscle damage, and develop heart failure after a heart attack.

Protective effect
Dr Lisa Heather, a BHF research fellow at the University of Oxford who led the research, said: “After a heart attack, people with Type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop heart failure more quickly, but we have not fully understood the reasons why that is the case.

“What we have shown with this research is that the metabolism of people with Type 2 diabetes means they have higher levels of fatty acids in the heart. This prevents signals going to the heart protective protein telling it to ‘kick-in’ after a heart attack.

“But what is perhaps most exciting, is that existing drugs - currently being trialled for people with blood disorders - can reverse that effect and allow the protein to be activated after a heart attack.

“This opens the possibility that, in the near future, we could also use these drugs to help treat heart attacks in people with Type 2 diabetes.”