Science
Research finds heart cell changes in people with dilated cardiomyopathy
Scientists at Queen’s University, Belfast have identified changes in heart cells that could offer hope for thousands of people living with dilated cardiomyopathy, according to research we've funded and presented today at the British Cardiovascular Society conference.
The team at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine have been studying data from thousands of individual heart cells from people with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).
DCM is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes thinned and weakened so the heart becomes ‘baggy’ and is unable to pump blood around the body efficiently. It is estimated to affect up to 7,600 (up to one in 250) people in Northern Ireland and is a common cause of heart transplantation.
Inherited DCM can be caused by a change or mutation in one or more genes. More commonly, DCM is caused by other conditions, such as heart attacks, diabetes or viral infections . However, as DCM develops, what happens at the cell and molecular level in the heart is poorly understood.
Study of the data by the team has shown changes in gene expression, the way in which information stored in DNA is converted into instructions for making proteins, in people with DCM. Identifying these changes is an early stage of research that could eventually lead to new treatments for DCM.
Research could help improve diagnoses
BHF-funded PhD student, Oisín Cappa, said the team at Queen’s University were able to use available data to study the different cell types.
“We were able to compare heart cells of patients with DCM with those from healthy hearts. We drilled down through the massive amounts of heart cell data available to us to find novel changes in gene expression in the DCM heart cells,” he said.
“This early research will allow further studies to improve diagnosis of patients with DCM or even develop treatments for the condition. There are currently no targeted treatments that are specific for DCM, but as we get a better understanding of the genes involved in the condition, we can hope to develop new treatments which target these genes.”
Our Head in Northern Ireland, Fearghal McKinney, said:
“We are delighted that our funded team at Queen’s University are presenting their research at the prestigious BCS conference. At present there is no cure for DCM, but treatments are available to help control symptoms and prevent complications. The more research that can be funded into DCM the closer we get to finding a cure for the condition.
“The last financial year has been the most challenging in the BHF’s lifetime, with the pandemic devastating our income, cutting our research funding in half, and putting lifesaving breakthroughs at risk. Despite the challenges, I’m immensely proud of the way we have pulled together and risen to the challenges the ongoing pandemic has presented us with and this recent research is an example of how we are funding life saving research right here in Northern Ireland.”