Damaged Heart Muscle

(Best Syndication News) American scientists have found a molecule that can minimize damage to the heart after a heart attack and during heart surgery. The compound can also be used to treat 40 percent of people of East Asian descent who carry a mutated form of the ALDH2 enzyme who do not respond to nitroglycerin and other cardiovascular treatments.

The ALDA-1 Molecule

The scientists from the Stanford and Indiana universities schools of medicine stumbled upon the molecule while investigating how ethyl alcohol (ethanol or drinking alcohol) protects muscle during a heart attack. They may have also found a way to reduce chest pain and the heart attack damage among millions of people of East Asian descent who are genetically unable to respond to nitroglycerin.

Initially the researchers wanted to find out how ethanol protected heart muscle cells. This lead to the discovery of a cellular signaling system that activated an enzyme called ALDH2.

In rat studies, Daria Mochly-Rosen, Ph.D., professor of chemical and systems biology at Stanford, and colleagues found that administering Alda-1 activated the enzyme and reduced heart muscle damage.

Thomas D. Hurley, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of the Center for Structural Biology at the IU School of Medicine, has been studying the ALDH2 enzyme for years. "The idea was to find a small molecule that could bypass the signaling process and activate the enzyme directly," Hurley said.

What is the ALDH2 Enzyme?

The ALDH2 Enzyme is found on chromosome 12 and belongs to the aldehyde dehydrogenase family of proteins. Aldehyde dehydrogenase is the second enzyme of the major oxidative pathway of alcohol metabolism. Most Caucasians have two major isozymes while nearly half of all Asians have only the cytosolic isozyme. This is why Asians suffer a higher frequency of acute alcohol intoxication.

When Can We See A Treatment?

Hurley informs us that this research has only been conducted on lab animals and it will take years of work to refine the compound into a version that would be potentially effective and safe for human use.

The new research appears in the September 12th 2008 issue of the journal Science.

By Jeffrey Workman
Best Syndication News Health Writer