A new way to prevent heart damage in diabetes

Restoring coronary microvascular endothelial glycocalyx as a therapy for diabetic cardiomyopathy

People with diabetes can develop a condition called diabetic cardiomyopathy, which means the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood around the body as effectively as it should. Dr Simon Satchell and his colleagues at the University of Bristol are studying a gel-like layer called glycocalyx, covering the endothelial cells that line the small blood vessels of the heart. Dr Satchell has found that when diabetic cardiomyopathy develops in diabetes patients, the glycocalyx layer is damaged at the same time. In this project, he will confirm whether glycocalyx loss contributes to diabetic cardiomyopathy in mice with diabetes. He will then use a substance called angiopoietin 1 to repair the glycocalyx damage, to see if it helps the heart beat more effectively. He will also test a compound to see if it can prevent glycocalyx loss in human heart cells. This study will confirm if damage to the glycocalyx layer of endothelial cells contributes to the poor heart function sometimes seen in people with diabetes, and whether it can be treated by restoring or protecting the glycocalyx. This research could lead to the development of new treatments for people with diabetic cardiomyopathy.