Australian researchers develop an early warning system for heart attacks

Australian scientists have developed an "early warning system" that can alert doctors about an imminent heart attack and provide them with tools that can prevent it.

The system has been shown to be effective in mice. is a strong expectation that it will translate to humans. Tests in humans are being prepared.

This first global study conducted by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute is published in the first cardiovascular medical journal, European Heart Journal.

Every year, 54,000 Australians suffer a heart attack and 8,600 die. This means that on average, heart attacks cost almost an hour to the Australian.

This warning system has two stages. The first is to detect the problem, and the researchers have found a way to turn it on as a neon sign.

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The underlying cause of a heart attack is a plaque buildup composed of fat and inflammatory cells within the arteries of the heart

. Some of these plaques are "unstable" and vulnerable to rupture, resulting in the formation of a clot that blocks blood flow to the heart.

This causes a heart attack.

For decades, an international effort has been made to try to distinguish dangerous plates that could break down, "In addition to leading a healthy life, this" early warning system "could be our best defense against attacks. cardiac, … ” width=”620″/>

Using a highly sophisticated mouse model, Professor Roland Stocker and his team at the Victor Chang Institute discovered that the activity of an inflammatory enzyme, called myeloperoxidase, is significantly higher in unstable plates only in stable plates.

After injecting a chemical probe into the bloodstream, an MRI can be used with precision and selectivity to identify the presence of dangerous plaques in the coronary arteries.

As a neon, the probe demonstrates a dangerous plaque that increases myeloperoxidase activity. This makes them easily visible on an MRI

This has never been done before and doctors will be warned quickly that they must intervene.

"We now have the potential tools to specifically identify people at high risk of heart attack using non-invasive MRI to detect vascular inflammation," says Professor Stocker, Chief of Vascular Biology.

"In addition to leading a healthy life, this" early warning system "could be our best defense against heart attacks, many of which can be life-threatening."

"Identifying who and when to seizure cardiacs will occur remains a holy grail of clinical cardiology "

The second step was to try to stabilize the plaque to prevent it from breaking.

The team investigated whether high enzymatic activity causes destabilization of plaque and Professor Stocker says the results were "really exciting!"

"When we administered a drug inhibiting myeloperoxidase activity, we discovered it. stabilized the plate making its liner more robust and less prone to breakage. "

" There was also decreased bleeding and coagulation in the arterial wall beneath the plaque. "

He says the next steps are to adjust the MRI probe for human use and conduct clinical trials to confirm the usefulness of imaging techniques and inhibitors to identify and treating high-risk patients.

Led by the Victor Chang Institute, the study was an international collaboration involving the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne., University of New Wales South, the National University of Singapore and the University of Otago.

"This is a discovery that Australians should" The MRI imaging technique has the potential to be the first non-invasive method to provide information on the activity of coronary plaque, which allows researchers to potentially be very proud of, "said Professor Bob Graham, executive director of the 39, Victor Chang Institute. "

" Angiography is the current gold standard of coronary imaging, and although it can accurately define arterial narrowing, it does not allow for "angiography". identify other characteristics of the high-risk plaque. "[19659003IndicatingtheTransferageofNewToolsinTraditionalClinicalClineandFinancingthisTracecovery

* Jill Margo is Director of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute