GLP-1 drugs may help prevent further tissue damage following a heart attack, significantly reducing the risk of life-threatening complications, according to a new study led by the University of Bristol and University College London (UCL).
“In nearly half of all heart attack patients, tiny blood vessels within the heart muscle remain narrowed, even after the main artery is cleared during emergency medical treatment. This results in a complication known as ‘no-reflow,’ where blood is unable to reach certain parts of the heart tissue,” explained the study’s lead author Svetlana Mastitskaya, Senior Lecturer in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences.
Building on their previous work showing that small contractile cells, called pericytes, constrict coronary capillaries at the onset of ischaemia, the UCL team investigated how GLP-1 might reverse these blockages.
Using animal models, the team discovered that GLP-1 drugs improve blood flow to the heart following a heart attack by activating potassium channels and thus relaxing pericytes. This allows constricted blood vessels to dilate and reduces the risk of further damage to the heart.
“With an increasing number of similar GLP-1 drugs now being used in clinical practice, for conditions ranging from type 2 diabetes and obesity to kidney disease, our findings highlight the potential for these existing drugs to be repurposed to treat the risk of ‘no-reflow’ in heart attack patients, offering a potentially life-saving solution,” said David Attwell, professor of physiology at UCL, and the study’s co-lead.
The study was recently published in Nature Communications.
Data from University of Bristol