Innovative drug could prevent heart attacks and strokes

Cysteamine can be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes due to blood clots. (CREDIT: Creative Commons)

According to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in JAHA: Journal of the American Heart Association, the antioxidant drug reverses atherosclerosis and can be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes due to blood clots.

Atherosclerosis is the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries. When a type of fat called LDL cholesterol oxidizes and builds up to form plaque on artery walls, inflammation and damage increase, which can lead to plaque rupture and blood clots.

These clots can block vital arteries that allow blood to flow to the heart, causing a heart attack, or to the brain, causing a stroke.

Previously, researchers at the University of Reading found that LDL cholesterol can be oxidized in acidic little sacs called lysosomes in immune cells in the artery wall.

Now Professor David Leake and his team have found that the antioxidant drug cysteamine has the ability to disable and even reverse this destructive process.

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Cysteamine accumulates in lysosomes and stops the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. It is already known to be safe in humans, where it is used to treat a rare lysosomal disease called cystinosis.

When the researchers observed mice with atherosclerosis, those treated with cysteamine experienced a 32% to 56% reduction in the size of atherosclerotic plaques, depending on the part of the aorta, the largest artery in the body, that was examined.

Cysteamine reduced the amount of oxidized fat by 73 percent and increased the stability of atherosclerotic sites. This reduced the proportion of inflammatory white blood cells by 55 percent and increased the area made up of smooth muscle cells by 85 percent, ultimately reducing the chance of plaque rupture and clot formation.

Antioxidant drugs that previously showed promising results in mice have proven disappointing in clinical trials for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, but researchers are hopeful that with these promising results, cysteamine will prove a successful treatment in humans.

Professor David Leak, a BHF-funded researcher who led the research at the University of Reading, said:

“The ability of this drug to protect against heart attacks and strokes and ultimately save lives has exceeded our expectations. We were hoping this would make the plaque grow slower, but we were amazed to find that it reversed the process.

“Cysteamine offers a whole new way to treat atherosclerosis. Now we want to find the most effective way to give this drug to patients and we hope that it can be put into clinical trials in the next few years.”

Professor James Leiper, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, who funded the study, said:

“Heart attacks and strokes are too often life threatening. In the UK every 5 minutes someone is hospitalized with a heart attack, the same can be said for a stroke. “The more ways we can find to treat the root cause of cardiovascular disease, the more lives and livelihoods can be saved.

“If this antioxidant drug can show the same promising effects in humans, then it could be a lifeline for thousands of people in the future.”

Heart attack symptoms

According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of a heart attack vary. Some people have mild symptoms. Others have severe symptoms. Some people have no symptoms.

Common symptoms of a heart attack include:

• Chest pain, which may feel like pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing, or aching.

• Pain or discomfort that radiates to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth, or sometimes the upper abdomen.

• Cold sweat

• Fatigue

• Heartburn or indigestion

• Lightheadedness or sudden dizziness

• Nausea

• Dyspnea

Women may have atypical symptoms, such as short-term or severe pain in the neck, arm, or back. Sometimes the first sign of a heart attack is sudden cardiac arrest.

Some heart attacks happen suddenly. But many people develop warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. Chest pain or pressure (angina) that keeps coming and doesn’t go away with rest can be an early warning sign. Angina is caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart.

To learn more about science and technology, visit our New Discoveries section at The bright side of the news.

Note. Materials provided above by the University of Reading. Content can be edited for style and length.

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