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USP researchers have developed a molecule that can improve the treatment of heart failure, a problem that affects people who have had a heart attack, Chagas disease, or even heart disease. hypertension. The research, the result of ten years of study, was published this Friday (18) in the journal Nature Communications.
Named for "Samba", acronym for "Selective Antagonist Mitofusin 1 and Beta2-PKC Association", the molecule created by scientists was tested on rats. According to the coordinator of the study, Professor Julio Cesar Batista Ferreira, of the USP, she was able to improve the problem at the heart of animals by preventing the connection between two proteins present in the cells of the body. organ.
When they come together, says Ferreira, these two proteins damage the "engine" of the cells of the heart – the mitochondria. This causes the body to lose the ability to contract and relax: hence heart failure.
Gr this to the promising result of the application of Samba in mice, the molecule could in the future be a possibility of treatment of heart failure in humans, but according to Ferreira, the treatments for heart failure, although they help the patient, do not guarantee good quality or life expectancy. Samba represents a possibility of additional effect to what already exists today, he says.
Scientists have already filed a patent application for the molecule and its application in the United States. In addition to the USP team, researchers from Stanford University and Case Western, USA, also participated in the study.
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