Time of Day Impacts โขHeart Attack Severity: New Research Reveals Why & points to Potential Treatments
HOUSTON,TX – Researchers โขat UTHealth Houston โคhave โฃidentified a molecular mechanism explaining why heart attacks are frequently enough more severe when they occur in the morning. Publishedโข in Nature, the study reveals a critical โขinteraction between two proteins, BMAL1 and HIF2A, โฃthat influences the heart’s โresponse to oxygen deprivation during a heartโ attack, and suggests a path towards โtiming treatments to maximize effectiveness.
Previous studies haveโ consistently shown that morning heart attacks lead to greater heart damage,โฃ higher rates of complications like arrhythmias and heart failure, and increased mortality. This new research pinpoints why.
“We knew the time of day mattered, but the underlying reason remained a mystery,” explains Dr.Holger Eltzschig, senior โauthor and chair of the department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at โคMcGovern โคMedical School at UTHealthโค Houston. “Our work shows that the interplay between BMAL1 – a key regulator of the body’s circadian rhythm – and HIF2A – a protein that helps cellsโ adapt to low oxygen – significantly impacts how heart โคcells respond to the stress of a heart attack.”
The study, conducted on mice, demonstrated that heart attacks occurring around 3 a.m. resulted in more extensive damage compared to those at 3 p.m.This difference was linked to the BMAL1 and HIF2A proteins โand their influence on a gene called โamphiregulin (AREG), which plays aโข crucial role in heart damage repair.
Importantly, researchers found that by targetingโ the BMAL1-HIF2A-AREG โคpathway with โdrugs, they could protect the heart, particularly when treatment was timed to coincideโค with the body’s natural circadian rhythm.
“This discovery opens up exciting possibilities for improving heart attack treatment,” says Dr. Eltzschig.”By considering the body’s internal clock,we might potentially be able to administer drugs at optimal times to reduce damage. This couldโฃ also benefit patients โundergoing cardiac surgery.” He โฃspecifically mentions drugs like vadadustat, a hypoxia-inducibleโ factor activator, as potential candidatesโฃ for timed management.
the research โฃteam utilized advanced cryo-electron microscopy to visualize โthe detailed interaction between BMAL1 and HIF2A, providing a foundation for future drug growth.Future clinical trials areโข planned to โฃdetermine if โฃaligning treatment with the body’sโฃ circadianโ rhythm can improve patient outcomes.
Key Researchers: wei Ruan,MD,PhD; Kuang-Lei Tsai,PhD; Tao Li,PhD;โ and Holger Eltzschig,MD,PhD.