A team of scientists from the University of Bristol (UK) has discovered a way to reverse the tissue damage caused by a heart attack and make it heal faster. The study explains how the cells that surround the blood vessels, called pericytes, stimulate the growth of new blood vessels thanks to the hormone ‘leptin’.
Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells (adipocytes) that helps regulate energy balance in the body by inhibiting appetite. The finding of this healing pathway will have important implications for the treatment of heart attacks and also for cancer.
The researchers examined how pericytes promote the growth of new blood vessels and the role of leptin in this process.
The development of new blood vessels is a phase called angiogenesis , a crucial process in our body that occurs in both health and disease. Angiogenesis is involved in tissue repair after injury, but it also plays an important role in the growth and spread of cancer.
One of the current heart attack treatments is coronary bypass surgery , which uses blood vessels in the leg and elsewhere in the body to bypass the blocked artery and improve blood flow to the heart muscle. It is an invasive surgery with a long recovery period, so this finding would serve as a less invasive and more effective alternative to coronary artery bypass.
During the study, experts found that pericytes produced 40 times more leptin when exposed to low oxygen levels and this continued until oxygen levels returned to normal, helping tissues build more blood vessels to increase. blood flow and oxygen supply. Thus, leptin has several important repercussions that stimulate the growth of new blood vessels in areas where tissues are deprived of oxygen.
In a heart attack, a lack of blood supply to the heart muscle can lead to a damaged heart. Researchers have shown that by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels, pericytes also have the potential to restore blood supply to damaged heart muscle after a heart attack.
“This new discovery could have important implications for the treatment of heart attacks, but also for cancer. These results reveal a new signaling mechanism that may have a far-reaching and significant impact on regenerative cardiovascular medicine. Increase leptin in pericytes in a damaged heart could help heal faster, while blocking the production of leptin in cancerous pericytes could deprive the tumor of nutrients and force it to shrink “ , explains Paolo Madeddu, leader of the work.
“This research project is a good example of a study that aims to benefit patients as soon as possible. Professor Madeddu and his team have made new discoveries that may help pave the way for the development of new heart attack treatments. that could replace coronary bypass operations, “says Barbara Harpham, CEO of Heart Research UK.
El proyecto fue financiado por Heart Research UK.
Referencia: The adipokine leptin modulates adventitial pericyte functions by autocrine and paracrine signalling’ by Paolo Madeddu et al in Scientific Reports
