For the first time, the underlying cause of chronic heart failure after a heart attack has been identified

A multi-institutional study led by Dr.
Rohan Dharmakumar of Indiana University School of Medicine found that iron drives the formation of adipose tissue in the heart, leading to chronic heart failure
in about 50 percent of heart attack survivors.
The findings, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, pave the way
for treatments that could potentially prevent heart failure in nearly 500,000 people in the United States each year, as well as millions of people worldwide.

"For the first time, we have identified the underlying cause of chronic heart failure after a heart attack," Dharmakumar said
.

Dharmakumar is executive director of the Indiana University Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center and associate director of research at the Cardiovascular Institute, a joint venture
between the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Indiana University Health Center.

Dr.
Suha Rahman, director of physicians at the Cardiovascular Institute, said: "While advances in the population have made it possible for most people to survive a heart attack, too many survivors have suffered long-term complications
such as heart failure.
" "Dr.
Dharmakumar's groundbreaking science sheds light on who is at risk and why, and points to effective ways to
prevent these complications.
"

The multimillion-dollar study, which included collaborators from U.
S.
and Canadian institutions, followed large animal models for 6 months
.
Studies have found that in cases where a heart attack causes bleeding within the heart muscle (about half of heart attacks), scar tissue is slowly replaced
by fat.
Adipose tissue doesn't efficiently flush blood out of the heart, which is what causes heart failure and eventually death in survivors of hemorrhagic heart disease, Dharmakumar said
.

"Through non-invasive imaging, histology and molecular biology techniques, and a variety of other techniques, we have shown that iron in red blood cells is what drives
this process," he explains.
"When we remove iron, we reduce the amount of
fat in the heart muscle.
This finding provides an avenue for clinical studies to remedy or mitigate iron-related effects
in patients with hemorrhagic myocardial infarction.
”

Dharmakumar's team is currently testing iron chelation therapies to do just this in
a clinical trial that has just started.

"Thanks to a clinical trial that his team at Indiana University is leading, I'm excited to see this treatment improving the lives of
millions of heart disease survivors around the world," Raman said.

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