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New Treatment Lessens Heart Attack Damage
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Detailed studies showed that the amount of heart tissue that died was about a third less in people receiving the cyclosporine versus patients who did not get the drug.
Although the study is small and requires larger trials to confirm the finding, indications are that use of cyclosporine (or another drug with the same pore-blocking action) could reduce overall heart attack damage by 10 percent, said Derek M. Yellon, director of the Hatter Cardiovascular Institute at University College London, who wrote an accompanying editorial.
"People are going to do it when you are rushed to the hospital," he said. "You are in danger while they are reperfusing the muscle."
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The reason for using a pore-blocking drug is "straightforward," Yellon said. "After a period of ischemia, when certain pores in the mitochondria open, that is detrimental," he said. "You'd rather keep those pores closed."
The French trial, Yellon acknowledged, is "a very small concept study. This area has not yet been well investigated."
"We are already involved in multicenter studies," Ovize said. Those studies will use not only cyclosporine, but also other pore-blocking agents. Drug companies are busily developing such agents, he said.
"In this study, by acting on the target, we were able to prevent cell death," Ovize said. "Now we need more studies to see whether that translates into improvement of left ventricular function and overall heart function."
More information
Current heart attack treatments are described by the U.S. Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 7/30/2008
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SOURCES: Michel Ovize, M.D., Ph.D., professor, physiology and cardiology, University of Lyon, France; Derek M. Yellon, Ph.D., D.Sc., director, Hatter Cardiovascular Institute, University College London, England; July 31, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine
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