About 50% of patients who survive a myocardial infarction develop chronic heart failure caused by iron, because this mineral favors the formation of fatty tissue in the heart. This finding is very important because it will help create treatments capable of preventing heart failure in millions of people around the world.
“For the first time, we have identified a root cause of chronic heart failure after a heart attack,” said Rohan Dharmakumar, executive director of the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine, who led a multi-institution study that found that iron drives the formation of fatty tissue in the heart and causes chronic heart failure in about half of heart attack survivors.
“While advances in populations have made survival after a heart attack possible for most, too many survivors suffer from long-term complications, such as heart failure,” said Dr. Subha Raman, medical director of the Cardiovascular Institute, which He adds that “Dharmakumar’s scientific breakthrough illuminates who is at risk and why, and points to an effective way to prevent these complications.”
Reduce the negative effects of iron in patients with heart attack
The new research, which has been published in Nature Communications, involved collaborators from institutions in the United States and Canada, who followed large-animal models for six months. Researchers have found that in heart attacks where bleeding occurs within the heart muscle – which is about half of them – the scar tissue is slowly replaced by fat. Adipose tissue cannot effectively pump blood away from the heart, and this is what leads to heart failure and eventually death for many people who have survived a hemorrhagic heart attack, Dharmakumar said.
Study finding reveals who is at risk for heart failure, and why, and points to an effective way to prevent these complications after a heart attack
“Using non-invasive imaging, histology and molecular biology techniques, and various other technologies, we have shown that red blood cell iron is what drives this process,” he explained. “When we removed the iron, we reduced the amount of fat in the heart muscle. This finding establishes a pathway for clinical investigations to remedy or mitigate iron-associated effects in patients with hemorrhagic myocardial infarction.”
Currently, Dharmakumar’s team is testing iron chelation therapy in a clinical trial that has just begun to achieve that goal. “Thanks to an ongoing clinical trial led by his team at Indiana University, I am excited to see this treatment improve the lives of millions of heart attack survivors around the world,” Raman concludes.
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