Coronary artery disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, responsible for about 25% of all deaths.
It happens when blood vessels that supply blood to the heart become narrowed or blocked due to a buildup of plaque. This can lead to serious problems like chest pain, heart attacks, and even death.
A team of scientists from the University of Virginia is now making progress in understanding why this disease happens and how we might better treat it.
The research focuses on special cells called smooth muscle cells. These cells are found in the walls of blood vessels. Scientists have known for a while that these cells can behave in two different ways.
In some cases, they help by forming a sort of cover over the plaque to keep it stable. But in other cases, they do the opposite and make the plaque worse, which can make the disease more dangerous.
The researchers wanted to understand why these cells act so differently. Noah Perry, a doctoral student involved in the study, looked at smooth muscle cells taken from heart transplant donors. He wanted to find out which genes were responsible for making the cells helpful or harmful.
His findings pointed to something interesting. It seems that the harmful behavior of the cells might be linked to problems with how they handle nitrogen and glycogen. Glycogen is a way the body stores sugar to use later for energy. Nitrogen is also important for many cell functions.
One sugar in particular, called mannose, may play a role in this process. It’s possible that mannose acts as a trigger that causes the cells to shift from being helpful to being harmful. However, the researchers say they need to do more studies to confirm this.
If scientists can figure out exactly what makes these cells change their behavior, they might be able to stop them from becoming harmful in the first place. This could lead to new ways to treat or even prevent coronary artery disease.
Current treatments usually focus on lowering cholesterol or managing blood pressure, but they do not work for everyone. That’s why there is a need to find new approaches.
The team, led by researcher Mete Civelek, is continuing their work in hopes of finding answers that can help millions of people suffering from this condition. This study is part of a larger effort to understand heart health better.
Other researchers are also looking at how vitamins like D and K might reduce inflammation, how certain foods can boost brain function, and how some cooking methods could even affect eye health.
This new research was published in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine. It gives hope that in the future, we may have better tools to fight one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
If you care about health, please read studies about the benefits of low-dose lithium supplements, and what we know about egg intake and heart disease.
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