• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Sunday, January 17, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Mouse model identified to study common form of heart failure linked to age-related obesity

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 22, 2020
in Health
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

New study suggests mice deficient in a receptor needed to clear unresolved inflammation may help in discovering therapies for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

IMAGE

Credit: © University of South Florida

TAMPA, Fla (June 22, 2020) — A receptor that plays an essential role in safely clearing chronic unresolved cardiac inflammation may offer new targets for treating an increasing type of heart failure associated with age-related obesity, suggests a preclinical study led by researchers at the University of South Florida Health (USF Health) Heart Institute, Morsani College of Medicine.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, is one of two types of heart failure – both characterized by shortness of breath, exercise intolerance, fatigue and fluid retention. Unlike the second type of heart failure, known as heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, HFpEF currently has no FDA-approved drugs to improve the weakened heart’s pumping function.

More than half of all patients with clinical heart failure have HFpEF, a growing public health problem because of the aging population and growing incidence of obesity. In HFpEF, the heart contracts normally and seems to pump out a normal proportion of blood; however, the heart muscle can thicken and weaken causing the ventricle to withhold an abnormally small volume of blood. So, while the heart’s output as measured by ejection fraction may appear within the normal range, it is insufficient to meet the body’s demands.

In a study published June 16 in The FASEB Journal, the USF Health-led team identified a mouse model that thoroughly mimics HFpEF syndrome in humans. These obesity-prone mice lack the inflammation clearing (resolution) receptor, ALX/FPR2 or ALX for short — a deficiency previously shown to drive cardiac and kidney inflammation in aging mice.

Using this unique model, the researchers defined how the ALX resolution receptor promotes the activity of specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs), fatty-acid derived signaling molecules. These SPM molecules support the body’s innate immune response to help clear out chronic inflammation and advance cardiac repair following an acute heart attack. Conversely, the researchers noted that sustained, unresolved inflammation after heart attack can aggravate abnormalities in endothelial cells lining the heart and kidneys. These abnormalities prompt endothelial dysfunction that changes blood vessel integrity — a primary sign of both age-related obesity and HFpEF.

“Remarkably, the deficiency of a single receptor triggers obesity in mice at an early age and this, in turn, gives rise to many molecular and cellular processes ultimately leading to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction,” said senior author Ganesh Halade, PhD, associate professor of cardiovascular sciences at the USF Health Heart Institute.

The FASEB study’s three key findings were:

  • The obesity-prone ALX-deficient mice had increased food intake and impaired energy metabolism compared to normal mice (with a working ALX receptor) of the same ages. The obesity-driven metabolic dysfunction led to heart structural remodeling, defective cardiac electrical activity and weakened heart muscle.
  • Deletion of the ALX receptor increased ion channel gene expression and disrupted multiple ion channels, which supported electrocardiogram evidence of heart rhythm disturbances in the mice.
  • Obesity-prone, ALX-deficient mice develop heart muscle damage characteristic of HFpEF with steady inflammation in the heart and kidneys. This suboptimal inflammation is directed remotely by immune cells (leukocytes) in the spleen and advanced by dysfunctional (leaky) cardio-renal endothelial tissue in older ALX-deficient obese mice.

Overall, the research describes the importance of the resolution receptor essential for SPM action, particularly resolvins that suppress the inflammatory response to acute injury without compromising a healthy immune response. In fact, a specific resolvin (D1) is a key that unlocks the ALX resolution receptor to enable pharmacological action and, eventually, safe clearance of inflammation, Dr. Halade said.

The study offers insight into potential targeted treatments for HFpEF that would harness the benefits of naturally-produced SPMs. Omega 3-rich diets and/or SPM supplements to preserve the receptor’s normal function may help prevent this type of heart failure, Dr. Halade said, while SPMs or other molecules specifically designed to reactivate a dysfunctional receptor might help treat existing HFpEF.

This latest research builds upon previous work by Dr. Halade’s laboratory – all focused on discovering the best ways to prevent, delay or treat the unresolved inflammation influencing heart failure. The team’s goal is to contribute to individualized therapies that may account for possible sex, racial/ethnic or age-related physiological differences.

Approximately, 6.5 million Americans have heart failure, which contributes to one in every eight deaths, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

###

The USF Health researchers collaborated with Charles N. Serhan, PhD, DSc, Harvard Medical School; Saame Raza Shaikh, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Xavier Leroy, Domain Therapeutics, France. The team science study was supported in part by grants from the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, National Institute of Health.

Media Contact
Anne DeLotto Baier
[email protected]

Original Source

https://hscweb3.hsc.usf.edu/blog/2020/06/22/usf-health-team-identifies-mouse-model-to-better-study-prevalent-form-of-heart-failure-linked-to-age-related-obesity/

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1096/fj.202000495RR

Tags: AgingCardiologyDiet/Body WeightEating Disorders/ObesityMedicine/HealthMetabolism/Metabolic DiseasesMolecular BiologyPhysiology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Rapid blood test identifies COVID-19 patients at high risk of severe disease

January 15, 2021
IMAGE

Special interests can be assets for youth with autism

January 15, 2021

Principles of care established for young adults with substance use disorders

January 15, 2021

USC study measures brain volume differences in people with HIV

January 15, 2021
Next Post
IMAGE

'Game changer' for reporters: 2016 US presidential election coverage

IMAGE

Immune cells infiltrating tumors may play bigger cancer role than previously thought

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    53 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • Blood pressure drug may be key to increasing lifespan, new study shows

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10
  • New findings help explain how COVID-19 overpowers the immune system

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Climate ChangeChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesBiologyInfectious/Emerging DiseasesTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceMedicine/HealthEcology/EnvironmentMaterialsGeneticscancerPublic HealthCell Biology

Recent Posts

  • Better diet and glucose uptake in the brain lead to longer life in fruit flies
  • Rapid blood test identifies COVID-19 patients at high risk of severe disease
  • Conductive nature in crystal structures revealed at magnification of 10 million times
  • Howard University professor to receive first Joseph A. Johnson Award
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In