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Structural Defects Occur Much Before Decline in Heart Function
The structure is a highly organized network of grooves in heart muscle membrane called T-tubules. This network is essential for transmitting electrical signals to the cells interior where they are translated into contractions that make the heart beat.
It was previously known that T-tubules become very disorganized during heart failure. The new study, published in the Aug. 20 issue of the journal Circulation Research, shows that this disorganization starts well before heart failure occurs during a stage known as compensated hypertrophy, when the heart muscle is enlarged but still able to pump a normal amount of blood around the body.
"Although heart function appears normal during compensated hypertrophy, we found that there already is structural damage," said Long-Sheng Song, M.D., senior author of this paper and UI assistant professor of internal medicine. "Our study suggests that things are going wrong very early in the process, and if we could prevent or slow this damage, we might be able to delay the onset of heart failure."
The researchers used a state-of-the-art imaging technique called laser scanning confocal microscope to visualize these structural changes in an animal model of heart failure. The study compared T-tubule structure and heart function at different stages of heart disease and found that the more disorganized the T-tubule network becomes, the worse the heart functions.
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More News on: Tongue Abnormalities, Heart, Healthy Heart , Lifestyle Paths to Heart Disease, Statins, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Aortic Valve Stenosis
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