Oxidative stress is a state where your body has too many ‘reactive oxygen species’. Imagine these as unruly molecules that cause damage.
They have been linked to brain diseases and heart diseases. But until now, scientists couldn’t clearly show that oxidative stress directly causes these diseases.
In a new study, scientists came up with a unique way to look at this. They used something called “chemogenetics.”
This means they used chemicals to control genes. They tweaked the genes of mice to make a special kind of yeast protein. This protein increased the level of oxidative stress in the mice.
The scientists came from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.
They thought they could use these genetically modified mice to understand how oxidative stress might mess up blood vessels and lead to diseases like high blood pressure and swollen arteries.
A Surprising Discovery
But they found something they didn’t expect. The mice quickly developed a serious problem with walking, known as ‘profound ataxia.’
When they looked closer, they found that specific nerves in the mice’s bodies were damaged. This damage was caused by the oxidative stress from the yeast protein they had introduced.
When they looked at the mice’s hearts, they found another surprise. The heart muscle had grown abnormally large, a condition called ‘cardiac hypertrophy.’
Connecting to a Human Disease
These problems – nerve damage and enlarged heart muscle – are found in a disease called Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). This is a disease that gets worse over time, damaging nerves and the heart. It is the most common inherited type of ataxia.
The researchers also found specific types of inflammation in these mice, which helps us understand how FA causes an enlarged heart.
Thomas M. Michel, a scientist involved in the study, said, “Our team found unexpected links between nerves and the heart.” He suggested their findings might help us understand why the hearts of patients with nerve diseases change shape.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. It’s a step forward in understanding how oxidative stress could lead to disease, and how our nerves and heart are connected in ways we didn’t know before.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and scientists find how COVID-19 damages the heart.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about Aspirin linked to higher risk of heart failure, and results showing this drug could reduce heart disease, fatty liver, obesity.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
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