Islamabad (Pakistan Point News / Online - 05th January, 2020) New preclinical research in animal models finds that infusing a specific protein into scar tissue after a heart attack improves and speeds up the recovery of the heart.Researchers are soon to test a new therapy for improving heart function and recovery after a heart attack.According to the American Heart Association (AHA), around 605,000 people in the United States have a new heart attack each year, and approximately 200,000 experience a recurrent attack.
Reperfusion, which is a technique that frees up the flow of oxygen to the heart's tissue, is a common form of treatment after a heart attack. However, up to one-quarter of people who undergo reperfusion develop heart failure within a year.So, researchers led by James Chong an associate professor at the University of Sydney in Australia have explored an alternative treatment that targets the scar tissue that forms after a heart attack.Chong and colleagues evaluated the therapeutic potential of a protein therapy called recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-AB (rhPDGF-AB).
As its name suggests, rhPDGF-AB is a recombinant growth factor-AB derived from human platelets. Platelets are small blood cells that rush to an injury site when they are needed to help the blood clot and start the healing process.How rhPDGF-AB improves heart functionThe study was a randomized trial. Chong and team assigned 36 pigs to one of three groups:� one that received a sham procedure (these five pigs did not have a heart attack)� one that received a balloon occlusion of the coronary artery to mimic a heart attack and took a placebo as "treatment" (11 pigs)� one that received balloon occlusion and 7 days of intravenous infusion of rhPDGF-AB (11 pigs).
A month after the intervention, the researchers used cardiac MRI and other methods to show that their treatment caused more new blood vessels to form, decreased abnormal heart rhythm, and boosted overall heart function.Clinical trials in humans to follow very soonChong explains how these findings build on the team's previous work, saying, "Our collaborator Prof. Richard Harvey, from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute [in Darlinghurst, Australia], had previously shown that the protein can improve heart function in mouse models following heart attack.""This project has been developed over more than 10 years, and we now have compelling data in two species for the effectiveness of this treatment."
