Heart failure is a life-threatening condition affecting an estimated 23 million people worldwide.
In a study from Westmead Institute for Medical Research, scientists found how vitamin D may help protect heart tissue and prevent heart failure after a heart attack, potentially offering a low-cost addition to existing treatments for heart failure.
They found that vitamin D prevents excessive scarring and thickening of heart tissue following a heart attack, which may help reduce the risk of heart failure.
In the study, the team used mouse models to investigate the impact of 1,25D, a form of vitamin D that interacts with hormones, on the cells that form scar tissue after a heart attack.
These cells are called cardiac colony-forming unit fibroblasts (cCFU-Fs).
Vitamin D was known to help protect against heart failure, but its interaction with cCFU-Fs was not well established.
Heart attacks occur when the blood supply to the heart is blocked, leading to tissue damage.
This triggers an inflammatory response where the cCFU-Fs replace the damaged tissue with collagen-based scar tissue.
This is a problem because scarring of heart tissue can reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively, which can lead to heart failure.
This research shows that vitamin D actually blocks the cCFU-Fs from forming scar tissue. By blocking cCFU-Fs, vitamin D may play an important role in lowering the risk of heart failure after a heart attack.
The team says new treatments are necessary to reduce the global burden of heart failure.
This study is the first to demonstrate the role of 1,25D in regulating cardiac progenitor cells, and the findings are encouraging.
With further study, vitamin D could prove to be an exciting, low-cost addition to current treatments.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health and the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was conducted by Associate Professor James Chong et al and published in…
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
