April 25, 2012

BHF Professor finds heart failure clue

BHF Professor Kinya Otsu has made an important discovery about heart failure, a condition affecting more than 750,000 people in the UK.

Patients with heart failure are unable to pump blood around the body stongly enough, which can result in symptoms including tiredness and shortness of breath. People affected can struggle with even the most basic exercise, such as walking to the shops or even making a cup of tea.

Professor Otsu, who is part of our Centre of Research Excellence at Kings College, University of London, is a leading international expert in some of the underlying problems in heart failure. In this study, his team made a new discovery about inflammation - a problematic build-up of immune cells in the heart that plays a key role in heart failure. The study is published in top journal Nature.

His team showed that in mice, this problematic build-up of immune cells can actually be caused by our body's own DNA. The culprit DNA comes from structures in heart cells called mitochondria, which produce the energy the heart needs to pump.

When the heart is under stress, such as during heart failure, this DNA can escape from the mitochondria into the main body of heart cells. Once escaped, it can cause immune cells to gather in the heart, making heart failure worse.

The discovery points towards possible new future treatments in people who suffer from heart failure.

This intriguing discovery is an important breakthrough

"This research points towards new avenues of exploration that could hopefully lead to treatments for heart failure in the future.”

Thanks to our supporters, we were recently able to announce funding of more than £3 million for Professor Otsu's team. Their pioneering work offers real hope of finding new treatments for heart failure.