Drugs for preventing heart failure after a heart attack
Drug discovery / Therapeutics
This project aimed to explore potential targets for drug intervention in the period after a heart attack, in order to prevent heart failure.
One such potential treatment is using drugs to promote the growth of new blood vessels. The team discovered that a protein, BACH1. prevents blood vessel development. It was then investigated whether a BACH1 inhibiting drug could therefore promote the growth of new blood vessels.
In laboratory models it was demonstrated that the BACH1 inhibitor encouraged new blood vessels to form and protected the pumping function of the heart. This has major implications for the potential for drug treatments in the wake of a heart attack.
Improving the healing of the heart tissue has the potential to both improve quality of life and reducing the incidence of heart failure. There are also additional potential benefits outside of impacts on the heart, including conditions where damage has been done to blood vessels in other parts of the body.
There were a number of delays with this project due to the pandemic, Brexit, leave of a research technician, and loss of a partnership with an industry partner.All in vivo work has now been completed and a publication is in preparation.
The development of a new AI-supported model for imaging the heart based on data from over 700 people with atrial fibrillation, allow ablation to be more personalised to individual patients.
Cardiac patches for heart repair
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