Genes linked to heart stiffness could uncover heart failure drug

Genetic and environmental factors have been found to cause the heart to become stiff, which can lead to heart disease and heart failure, according to research we’ve funded and published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Stiffening of the heart muscle impacts the heart’s ability to refill with blood each time it beats, making it less able to pump blood efficiently.

Spotting people at risk

Their findings could ultimately help to spot people at increased risk of developing heart failure and help researchers design new medicines to prevent the condition.

Researchers at Imperial College London analysed heart MRI scans, which show the heart beating in real time, from almost 40,000 people in the UK Biobank – a huge database of medical information used for public health research.

The team used machine learning techniques to analyse the heart MRI scans to determine signs of stiffness. They then compared these with genetic data and found nine locations in the genome linked to heart stiffness.

The genes that they identified could present much-needed drug targets to prevent heart failure from occurring.

They also found that older age, higher pulse rate, being of male sex and having diabetes are all linked to the chambers of the heart becoming stiffer over time.

New treatments

Professor Declan O’Regan, Head of the Computational Cardiac Imaging group at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, who led the work, said:

“Increased heart stiffness affects 50% of older adults causing reduced quality of life but there are few treatments available. AI offers a powerful new approach for analysing heart scans and linking that information with genetics. These findings could accelerate the search for new treatments that target this early stage of heart failure”.

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