A newly discovered heart attack drug could reduce the tissue damage which occurs after a heart problem, according to a BBC headline. This follows new research which involved a study of mice, where a molecule known as MitoSNO was found to reduce the tissue damage that occurs after a heart attack. The heart is responsible for pumping oxygen-rich blood around the body so that the organs can function, but it also needs its own oxygen supply in order to work. When someone has a heart attack, the blood supply to the heart stops and this starves areas of the heart’s tissue of oxygen. The result can be muscle failure, which can often lead to heart failure. Previous studies suggest that the damage to the heart is caused by chemicals known as reactive oxygen species, or ROSs. These damage the heart and inhibit the body’s ability to repair the damage to the heart.
In a new study, researchers have found that injecting MitoSNO into mice after an induced heart attack helped to repair some of this damage. Doing this stopped the high levels of RSOs being produced which protected a larger proportion of the heart tissue from damage. The research is still in the early stages, but researchers are hopeful that they may have found a way of repairing the vital muscles in the heart after heart complications. The study itself was carried out by collaborative researchers in the UK, US and New Zealand.
The laboratory-based research which was carried out in mice used a simulation which was designed to mimic the effects of a heart attack in humans, appearing to show that the molecule MitoSNO can actually prevent some of the tissue damage associated with heart attacks. While researchers are keen to note that this is still in the early stages, this could offer fantastic opportunities for heart attack treatments. Heart failure affects millions of people and this discovery could offer significant chances to repair the damage that it has on people’s lives.