An international research team, led from the University of Leeds, has found that a common anti-angina drug could help protect the heart against carbon monoxide poisoning.
Animal studies have shown that the anti-angina drug ranolazine can significantly reduce the number of deaths from arrhythmias irregular or abnormally paced heartbeats that have been triggered by carbon monoxide.
The findings could have important implications for the development of a protective treatment for adults and children who have been exposed to toxic levels of the gas.
"When patients are admitted to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning, the main problem doctors face is preventing damage to the body whilst the body slowly removes the chemical," said University of Leeds' Professor Chris Peers, who led the research. "We've shown that ranolazine can rapidly protect the heart and prevent the kind of cardiac events which threaten patients long after their exposure to the gas."
Carbon monoxide poisoning causes 1.6 million deaths worldwide every year. Many people who have been exposed to the gas develop cardiac arrhythmias, which if left untreated can lead to a fatal cardiac arrest.
Until now, however, the underlying biochemical mechanisms causing damage to the heart have not been fully understood, preventing the development of effective treatments.
Ranolazine, which is sold under the trade name Ranexa, was approved in 2006 in the US for the treatment of angina. The drug works by targeting a sodium channel in the heart - the same channel that can also induce irregular heartbeats.
Researchers at the University of Leeds examined the effect of ranolazine in single cardiac cells, to learn why carbon monoxide can trigger arrhythmias. They found that exposure to the gas caused a key membrane channel carrying sodium ions through the heart to stay open for longer. This in turn caused calcium to build up within cells, with the combine
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| Contact: Richard Mellor r.d.mellor@leeds.ac.uk 44-011-334-34031 University of Leeds Source:Eurekalert |
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