Thus, the research team confirmed that heart muscle cells in patients
with lamin mutation and dilated cardiomyopathy had irregular rhythm and did not
contract normally.
Thus, scientists confirmed that the abnormal PDGF pathway caused the irregular rhythm of the heart in dilated cardiomyopathy that could be suppressed by drugs such as
sunitinib and crenolanib.
The
two drugs are FDA-approved to treat several
cancers. However, earlier studies by the team have shown that the drugs can
injure the heart at high doses, and thus, need to be further
evaluated to identify the correct dose or find suitable alternatives.
Using Cells
Derived From Patient's Stem Cells To Test New Drugs
The
current research is part of the greater efforts of the study team
in obtaining specialized cells such as heart or brain
cells from patient stem cells
to study disease
effects and response to newer drugs.
"With
10 ml of blood, we can make clinically usable amounts of your beating heart
cells in a dish," said the study's senior author, Joseph Wu, MD, PhD,
director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and a pioneer of the
technique.
"And
if you tell me you're taking some kind of medication for your heart -- like
beta-blockers or statins -- we can add that to see how it affects your heart.
That's the beauty of this approach."
Dr. Wu further states that
he has asked research scholars in his lab to use his blood to generate his
heart cells, liver and brain cells to test the efficacy of drugs he may need to
take in the future.
About Dilated
Cardiomyopathy
- In dilated cardiomyopathy, the left
ventricle, which is the
main pumping chamber of the heart expands to such an extent that the heart
is unable to contract properly
- Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy suffer from
breathlessness, chest pain and sometimes may result in
sudden and deadly cardiac arrest
- Approximately 1 in every 250
Americans is diagnosed with a type of dilated cardiomyopathy
of unknown etiology and up to 35% of these
cases run in families
- Current treatments aim to alleviate
symptoms and improve quality of life
In
summary,
scientists
identified
a
key biological pathway that could be a potential drug target to treat familial
dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Reference :
- Researchers Identify Possible Drug Target for Deadly Heart Condition - (http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/07/researchers-identify-possible-drug-target-for-heart-condition.html)