Improving the diagnosis and treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy

Investigating the topography of adaptive immunity in the cardiovascular system: Basic mechanisms and therapeutic potential (renewal).

Professor Marelli Berg and her team have discovered that in some patients immune cells may cause dilated cardiomyopathy and are searching for ways to stop them. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition where the heart chambers become enlarged, which affects its ability to pump blood around the body. DCM can develop as a consequence of autoimmune disease – where the normal immune response is overactive and attacks the heart tissue with significant effects on quality of life and about 50% of patients don’t live more than 10 years . However, it’s difficult to identify this cause of DCM in individuals, and current medicines to suppress the immune attack have severe side effects. BHF Professor Marelli Berg has discovered a population of cells in our immune system that actively target the inflamed heart. She named them cT-cells and believes that they may be involved in the development of autoimmune DCM. Now, the researchers will learn, in mice, more about the these cT-cells, to discover how they might be used to diagnose and predict the progression of DCM. They will also begin working towards a new therapy that targets the energy source used by the cells to migrate to the heart. The researchers hope to gain a better understanding of the development of autoimmune DCM, develop new tools to detect it, and kinder medicines to treat it. This could significantly improve the diagnosis and prognosis of this dangerous condition, which affects both young and old people.