New drug prevents damage to the heart

MELBOURNE researchers have used a one-off dose of a new drug to effectively prevent major damage from a heart attack by stopping the chain reaction of damage leading to heart failure in 80 per cent of people after a cardiac event.

This finding in preclinical studies paves the way for the development of the first treatment to protect patients from secondary heart damage.

About 95 per cent of people who receive early treatment to reopen blocked blood vessels following a cardiac event survive. But most patients experience progressive heart failure in subsequent weeks as the immune system works overtime.

Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute deputy director Professor Karlheinz Peter said they had developed a “totally new concept” to show they could overcome the immune reaction that occurred after coronary artery blockage was removed in the cath lab upon immediate arrival at hospital.

“Evolution hasn’t really foreseen we’d have heart attacks, so it’s probably an overshooting of the immune system that tries to get rid of the dead cells, but clears up the surviving cells as well,” he said.

Prof Peter and his team developed an antibody drug that takes the therapy to the exact area where it is needed. It has anti-inflammatory properties to prevent the immune attack, but can also prevent clots forming.