Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death around the world. In the United States alone, coronary artery disease is responsible for about one in every four deaths.
This disease happens when fatty plaque builds up inside the arteries that carry blood to the heart. Over time, the arteries become narrow and hard, making it more difficult for blood and oxygen to reach the heart muscle.
When blood flow becomes blocked, it can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other serious health problems. Even though doctors already use treatments such as cholesterol-lowering medicines, blood pressure control, and surgery, heart disease still affects millions of people every year.
Because of this, scientists continue searching for new ways to better understand the disease and find improved treatments.
Now, researchers at the University of Virginia Health have made an important discovery that may help scientists better understand how heart disease develops. Their findings could one day lead to new treatments that stop the disease from getting worse before it causes severe damage.
The research team was led by Dr. Mete Civelek from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His group focused on special cells inside blood vessels called smooth muscle cells. These cells are found in the walls of arteries and normally play a protective role in the body.
One of their important jobs is to help create a strong covering over plaque inside arteries. This covering, often called a cap, helps keep the plaque stable.
When plaque becomes unstable and breaks open, it can suddenly block blood flow and trigger heart attacks or strokes. Because of this, smooth muscle cells are usually considered helpful for heart health.
However, scientists have known for years that these cells can sometimes behave very differently. Instead of protecting the arteries, they may actually help create more plaque and make artery disease worse.
Until now, researchers did not fully understand why this change happens. Understanding this process is important because if scientists can stop the harmful change, they may be able to slow or prevent the disease.
To investigate this mystery, doctoral student Noah Perry carefully studied smooth muscle cells taken from heart transplant donors. By examining these cells in detail, he looked for genes and biological processes that might explain why the cells sometimes switch from being helpful to harmful.
The study uncovered several surprising clues. The researchers found that the harmful changes in the cells may be linked to problems in the way the body handles nitrogen and stores sugar in the form of glycogen.
Glycogen acts as a storage form of energy in the body. When these processes are disrupted, it may change how the smooth muscle cells behave inside the arteries.
One of the most interesting findings involved a special type of sugar called mannose. The scientists discovered evidence suggesting that mannose may play an important role in causing the cells to change their behavior.
This discovery was especially exciting because it points to a possible biological trigger that scientists may be able to target in future treatments. Although the researchers say more studies are still needed to confirm exactly how mannose is involved, the finding opens a completely new direction for heart disease research.
The discovery is important because it may eventually help doctors stop artery damage before it becomes dangerous. If scientists can learn how to prevent smooth muscle cells from becoming harmful, they may be able to reduce plaque buildup and lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Instead of only treating the symptoms of heart disease after plaque has already formed, future treatments might focus on controlling the cell changes much earlier in the disease process.
Dr. Civelek explained that heart disease affects people everywhere, making the search for better treatments extremely important. Current treatments have already saved many lives, but researchers still believe there is much more to learn about the disease.
The team hopes their work will help create more effective therapies in the future. Other researchers involved in the project included Diana Albarracin and Redouane Aherrahrou.
Heart disease research has become increasingly important as modern lifestyles continue to increase health risks. Poor diet, smoking, lack of exercise, stress, obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure all contribute to damage inside blood vessels.
Over many years, this damage can slowly lead to plaque buildup. Scientists now understand that heart disease is not simply caused by cholesterol alone. Inflammation, immune system activity, genetics, and changes inside blood vessel cells also play major roles.
Discoveries like this new study help scientists understand these complicated biological processes more clearly.
Researchers are also exploring how nutrition and vitamins may affect heart health. Some studies suggest vitamin D may help reduce inflammation in the body, while other research indicates vitamin K could lower the risk of heart disease.
Although these findings are still being studied, they show how many different factors may influence heart health.
The new research from the University of Virginia Health gives scientists another important piece of the puzzle. While more work is needed before any new treatment becomes available, the findings offer hope that future therapies could better protect people from one of the world’s deadliest diseases.
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 study was published in the journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.
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