New research may help treat sudden cardiac death in young athletes

young athletes running on the field have sudden cardiac death, usually due to arrhythmic cardiomyopathy (ACM), a genetic heart condition. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the United States have developed a new understanding of the role of the immune system in ACM and have developed a new drug that may help prevent ACM symptoms in some patients and prevent it from developing toward heart failure. The paper was recently published in Circulation.
ACM patients usually have mutations in any of the five genes that make up the heart bridge grain. Heart cells in patients with ACM tear over time and are replaced by damaged and inflamed scar tissue. Scar tissue increases the risk of arrhythmic arrhythmics, which can lead to sudden cardiac death in severe cases. There is currently no drug to treat the potential structural defects of bridge particles.
, the scientists studied mice with ACM mutations, as well as myocardial cells produced by stem cells in ACM patients. They found that inflammation associated with the disease has two different causes. First, the scientists noted that high levels of macrophages, which usually occur in inflammatory areas, stay permanently in the heart in ACM and weaken their function over time. They also found that in ACM, heart cells are triggered by a protein called nuclear-factor-active B-cell-light-chain enhancer (NF-B), which produces a chemical called cytokines. The researchers treated animals treated with the NF-B blocking drug Bay-11-7082, which doubled heart function compared to untreated ACM animals. (Source: Tang Erdu, China Science Journal)
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