In a breakthrough discovery, an Indian scientist has found new treatment for heart disease in diabetics by targeting a key protein. Lead researcher Rajesh Katare of the University of Otago said that the team sought to confirm their laboratory-based results by collaborating with cardiothoracic surgeons at Dunedin Hospital to collect and study heart tissue samples from coronary bypass patients. In the study, the researchers used the type-2 diabetic mouse model and matched around 35 such diabetic patients to comparable non-diabetic ones. Analysis revealed markedly increased autophagy in the diabetic patients' heart tissues compared to the non-diabetic ones.
The increase then triggered activation of pro-cell death proteins, which lead to progressive loss of cardiac cells. As more cells die, cardiac dysfunction develops and heart failure ensues. They also identified that diabetes increases…
