The role of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) in the myocardial protective effects of inorganic nitrite
Most deaths from coronary heart disease are caused by a heart attack. There are many thousands of heart attacks in the UK each year. Finding new ways to limit heart muscle damage following a heart attack will offer a better chance of survival and a better quality of life to people who survive a heart attack. When one of the blood vessels supplying the heart with blood becomes blocked, a heart attack can occur and an area of heart muscle is damaged. Rapid re-opening of the blocked artery limits the extent of this damage but restoring the blood flow itself causes some injury to the heart muscle. Scientists have found that in animals a molecule called nitrite protects the heart from damage, and an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) is also important in enabling this protection. Dr Melanie Madhani and colleagues at the University of Birmingham believe sodium nitrite may be able to protect the heart tissue from damage if it is given to people before they have heart surgery, provided the ALHD2 enzyme is working. They have now been awarded a BHF grant to investigate how sodium nitrite protects heart tissue in mice and what role ALDH2 plays. They will also test this in people. Approximately forty percent of East Asian people carry an inactive ALDH2 protein, so the team will collect tissue from East Asian patients having heart surgery and look for differences in nitrite function. This research will unravel the importance of ALDH2 for sodium nitrite to protect the heart, and the impact that inactive ALDH2 has on heart disease. This work could lead to clinical trials of ALDH2 activator drugs to limit heart muscle damage after a heart attack.
Project details
| Grant amount | £184,304 |
|---|---|
| Grant type | Project Grants |
| Application type | Project Grant |
| Start Date | 05 January 2015 |
| Duration | 3 years |
| Reference | PG/14/36/30854 |
| Status | In Progress |
