Heart disease, including frightening events like heart attacks and strokes, takes more lives in the United States than any other condition.
Despite the best efforts of doctors and medications, heart disease remains a stubborn problem.
In a fresh turn of events, scientists from the University of Michigan might have found a new clue to this ongoing battle: a small protein named suPAR.
The Role of a Little Protein
SuPAR, short for soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, is a protein produced in our bone marrow. Picture it as a small supervisor, keeping our immune system in check.
However, having too much suPAR isn’t a good thing. It can lead to a condition called atherosclerosis, a word for when our blood vessels get hard and tight.
This condition makes it difficult for blood to travel through our body, leading to heart disease.
A New Discovery in Heart Health
The University of Michigan scientists dove deep into the medical data of over 5,000 people who, at the time, didn’t have heart disease.
They found that individuals with more suPAR were more likely to develop atherosclerosis and encounter heart troubles, regardless of other health risks.
That’s like saying a person who doesn’t smoke or have high blood pressure still has a high chance of getting heart disease if they have a lot of suPAR.
Following this, they studied the genetic codes of 24,000 people and discovered something striking. Some individuals had a slightly different version of the gene that produces suPAR, and they usually had more of this protein.
This gene variant, or different version, was strongly tied to atherosclerosis in an extensive study of 500,000 people and confirmed in two more big studies.
The scientists didn’t stop there. They went on to study mice and found those with more suPAR had more fat build-ups in their aortas, the main highway for blood leaving the heart, compared to mice with regular suPAR levels.
Looking at the Big Picture
All these findings put together paint a pretty compelling picture, strongly suggesting suPAR is a significant player in causing atherosclerosis.
It’s not often you get evidence from clinical data, genetics, and experimental tests all pointing to the same thing.
Researchers are now investigating safe ways to reduce suPAR levels, potentially introducing a fresh way to stop and treat heart disease.
This could be a significant leap forward, as current treatments for atherosclerosis don’t typically impact suPAR levels.
On another interesting note, the study found a link between suPAR and kidney disease, a condition affecting 1 in 7 Americans. It appears that people often deal with both conditions at the same time.
Most folks with kidney disease also have heart disease, and a large portion of those with heart disease show signs of kidney disease.
This research, led by Salim Hayek and his team and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, offers a new perspective on the link between our hearts and kidneys, and how a single protein can affect both.
Ultimately, these findings serve as a reminder of how interconnected our bodies are. To truly understand and treat diseases, we need to look at the big picture, paying attention to how one small piece can impact the whole puzzle.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
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