New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Molecular discovery paves way for new diabetic heart disease treatments

Date:
August 12, 2015
Source:
University of Otago
Summary:
Researchers have discovered why heart disease is the number-one killer of people with diabetes, a breakthrough finding opening the way for new treatments to combat the disease in diabetic patients by targeting a key protein called Beclin-1.
Share:
FULL STORY

Researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago have discovered why heart disease is the number-one killer of people with diabetes, a breakthrough finding opening the way for new treatments to combat the disease in diabetic patients by targeting a key protein called Beclin-1.

Diabetes affects more than 365 million people worldwide with rates expected to double by 2030. Recent studies show that at least 60% of people with the disease die because of cardiovascular complications.

Why diabetes takes such a toll on heart health has long remained a mystery. Now, in a new study published in the International Journal of Cardiology, the Otago researchers have identified harmful molecular changes in the cells of diabetic hearts that begin before cardiovascular symptoms even appear.

Using the type-2 diabetic mouse model, the researchers found that a normal cell process called autophagy is deregulated in diabetic hearts. A marked increase in autophagy then triggers activation of pro-cell death proteins, which leads to progressive loss of cardiac cells. As more cells die, cardiac dysfunction develops and heart failure ensues.

Lead researcher Dr Rajesh Katare says the team sought to confirm their laboratory-based results by collaborating with cardiothoracic surgeons at Dunedin Hospital to collect and study heart tissue samples from coronary bypass patients.

The researchers matched around 35 such diabetic patients to comparable non-diabetic ones. Analysis revealed markedly increased autophagy in the diabetic patients' heart tissues compared to the non-diabetic ones.

They also identified that diabetes increases autophagy through activation of the protein (Beclin-1), which Dr Katare says presents "an extremely promising target for new treatments of diabetes-related cardiac disease."

"We found that these molecular alterations begin in the diabetic heart from an early stage of the disease--before any clinically identifiable symptoms--so blocking them could be useful in combating cardiovascular complications in diabetes."

When the researchers lowered the gene expression of Beclin-1 in rat heart cells exposed to high glucose, excessive autophagy and cell death rates were much reduced, he says.

"Given that the growing diabetes epidemic is set to create major global economic and social costs in coming decades, it is very exciting to have opened up a new research avenue that could greatly decrease the disease's burden," Dr Katare says.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Otago. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Pujika Emani Munasinghe, Federica Riu, Parul Dixit, Midori Edamatsu, Pankaj Saxena, Nathan S.J. Hamer, Ivor F. Galvin, Richard W. Bunton, Sharon Lequeux, Greg Jones, Regis R. Lamberts, Costanza Emanueli, Paolo Madeddu, Rajesh Katare. Type-2 diabetes increases autophagy in the human heart through promotion of Beclin-1 mediated pathway. International Journal of Cardiology, 2015; DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2015.08.111

Cite This Page:

University of Otago. "Molecular discovery paves way for new diabetic heart disease treatments." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 August 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150812103657.htm>.
University of Otago. (2015, August 12). Molecular discovery paves way for new diabetic heart disease treatments. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 11, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150812103657.htm
University of Otago. "Molecular discovery paves way for new diabetic heart disease treatments." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150812103657.htm (accessed October 11, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES