“A root cause of chronic heart failure followings a heart attack” that is common in almost fifty percent of patients.

The findings, which were published in Nature Communications, pave the way for new therapies that could potentially save the lives of millions of people globally and roughly 500,000 Americans each year from heart failure.

Rohan Dharmakumar, PhD, of the Indiana University School of Medicine, led a multi-institution study that found iron causes fatty tissue to form in the heart and causes chronic heart failure in about half of heart attack survivors.

These new findings, published in Nature Communications, could lead to new treatment options that could save the lives of millions of individuals around the world.

“For the first time, we have identified,” said the author, “a root cause of chronic heart failure following a heart attack.”

Dharmakumar is the head of the Cardiovascular Institute, a partnership between the IU School of Medicine and IU Health, and the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center.

According to Subha Raman, MD, the medical director of the Cardiovascular Institute, “advances across populations have made survival after a heart attack possible for most,” but many patients experience long-term consequences including heart failure. 

“Dr. Dharmakumar’s breakthrough science,” according to the director, “illuminates who is at risk and why and points to an effective way to prevent these complications.”

The multimillion-dollar study monitored huge animal models for six months. It was discovered that scar tissue is slowly replaced by fat in cases of heart attacks that result in bleeding within the heart muscle. This occurs in around half of all heart attacks.

According to Dharmakumar, fatty tissue can’t efficiently push blood from the heart, which causes heart failure and eventually death in many survivors of hemorrhagic heart attacks.

“Using noninvasive imaging, histology and molecular biology techniques, and various other technologies, we have shown that iron from red blood cells is what drives this process,” the researcher added. “When we removed the iron, we reduced the amount of fat in the heart muscle. This finding establishes a pathway for clinical investigations to remedy or mitigate the effects associated with iron in hemorrhagic myocardial infarction patients.”

Dharmakumar’s group has just begun a clinical trial to see if iron chelation therapy may achieve this goal.

“Thanks to a clinical trial underway being led by his team at Indiana University, I’m excited to see this treatment improve the lives of millions of heart attack survivors worldwide,” adds Raman.

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