Heart failure is a serious and widespread condition that affects millions of people worldwide.
It occurs when the heart can’t pump blood efficiently, leading to symptoms like fatigue, shortness of breath, and swelling.
Despite advances in treatment, heart failure remains a major health challenge, with high rates of complications and death.
There are two main types of heart failure:
- Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) – The heart pumps normally but struggles to fill with enough blood.
- Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) – The heart’s ability to pump blood is weakened.
While new medications have improved treatment for HFrEF, many drugs that work for HFrEF do not benefit patients with HFpEF. This has created a critical need for targeted treatments for both subtypes.
Groundbreaking Study Identifies New Drug Targets
A new study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, may help change this. Researchers used genetic analysis and multi-omics technology to identify 58 new drug targets for heart failure. Their findings could pave the way for new treatments specifically designed for each type of heart failure.
The team analyzed genetic data from 55,378 patients with heart failure from the Million Veteran Program (MVP), a large research initiative run by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. They used advanced methods to examine over 15,000 genes, looking for those that might be directly involved in heart failure.
To confirm their findings, they:
Validated the genes in a multi-ancestry genetic database of 175,000 people, including African American, Hispanic, and European individuals.
Cross-checked the results using an alternative proteomics platform (a method for studying proteins in the body).
Key Findings
70 genes were linked to HFrEF, while 10 genes were linked to HFpEF.
None of the genes overlapped between the two subtypes, reinforcing the need for separate treatments for each condition.
Several of the identified genes have strong potential for developing new drugs.
Some genes may also be used for drug repurposing—meaning existing medications could be adapted for heart failure treatment.
Why This Matters
This study offers new hope for heart failure patients by identifying specific genetic targets that could lead to better treatments. Until now, most heart failure research has focused on HFrEF, leaving HFpEF patients with fewer effective options. By pinpointing unique genes for each type, this research opens the door to precision medicine—where treatments are tailored to a patient’s specific condition.
What’s next? The researchers plan to:
Conduct further experiments to understand how these genes contribute to heart failure.
Test potential new drugs based on these findings.
Explore whether existing medications can be adapted to target these newly discovered genes.
This research is a major step forward in understanding the genetic causes of heart failure. If successful, it could lead to breakthrough treatments that improve survival rates and quality of life for millions of patients. With targeted therapieson the horizon, the future of heart failure treatment looks more promising than ever.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and Vitamin K2 could help reduce heart disease risk.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about how to remove plaques that cause heart attacks, and results showing a new way to prevent heart attacks, strokes.
The research findings can be found in Nature Cardiovascular Research.
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