MS Drug May Help Prevent Heart Failure

A new drug that could help treat multiple sclerosis may also help treat cardiac hypertrophy, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

The slow thickening of the heart muscle that shrinks the interior volume  and can potentially diminish the volume of blood that the organ receives, forcing it to work harder, is known as cardiac hypertrophy. This condition can affect one in 500 people and is often caused by high blood pressure or is inherited, and can be deadly if not treated.

"There comes a day when the heart just can't keep up anymore, and it fails," said R. John Solaro, UIC distinguished university professor and head physiology and biophysics, via a press release.

Solaro and his colleagues said they believed that if thickening of the heart muscle could be slowed or even reversed, heart failure could possibly be prevented.

To test this, researchers used an experimental mouse model of cardiac hypertrophy and it's interaction with a chemical compound derived from fungus. The results showed significant changes in reduced heart mass, including lessened fibrosis, or stiffening of the heart muscle; and improved overall cardiac function in the mice that received the drug.

According to the press release, the researchers also found that the drug inhibits expression of several genes that involve cardiac hypertrophy.

"We saw that FTY-720 blocked the activity of a protein we know is involved in causing heart-cell thickening," Solaro said, via the release. "FTY-720 is potential therapy to treat this disease and prevent heart failure for people where the disease is acquired through high blood pressure, and possibly inherited hypertrophy as well."

More information regarding the study can be found in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.