In a study from the Queen Mary University of London, scientists showed the first blood test to diagnose inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) could be in use in as little as a year.
They made a discovery of a molecular signal in the blood, which offers hope of a quick and cheap way of diagnosing the condition.
Myocarditis is a difficult condition to diagnose. Symptoms include a temperature, fatigue, chest pain and shortness of breath, which can all be easily mistaken for other conditions.
The gold standard method for diagnosis is a heart biopsy, an expensive, invasive, and risky procedure which can sometimes still miss signs of the condition.
It’s estimated that one young person dies suddenly every week in the UK due to previously undiagnosed myocarditis.
In the study, researchers found that the presence of T-cells—a type of white blood cell—expressing a molecule called cMet in the blood strongly indicates that a person has myocarditis.
They say that cMet-expressing T cells levels could be detected through a routine blood test that could cost less than £50 with results available within hours.
The researchers hope that this finding will improve the diagnosis of myocarditis and help people to get the treatment they need earlier, reducing the risk that they will develop life-threatening complications such as abnormal heart rhythms or heart failure.
In the study, researchers compared blood samples from several groups of patients, including 34 people with a final diagnosis of myocarditis.
This showed that patients with myocarditis had significantly increased levels of T cells with cMet on their surface compared to other groups, including heart attack patients, and those with no medical condition.
These findings add to the evidence that myocarditis is an autoimmune condition.
The team found that cMet-expressing T cells become activated by molecules expressed by heart cells, producing an immune reaction against these cells that leads to inflammation of the heart muscle.
The researchers also discovered that in mice, T cells with the cMet molecule seemed to have a role in driving the development of the condition.
Blocking cMet with a widely available drug reduced the severity of their myocarditis.
The team will investigate this finding further in future studies and hope it will help them to develop the first targeted treatment for myocarditis.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about folate (vitamin B9) deficiency linked to higher dementia and death risk, and this diet could help heart disease patients lose weight.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about how much vitamin C you need for better immune health, and results showing Vitamin K2 supplements cannot slow calcium buildup in heart valve.
The study was conducted by Federica Marelli-Berg et al and published in the journal Circulation.
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