Login | January 14, 2025
A more effective treatment for cardiovascular disease?
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: January 13, 2025
Researchers here in northeast Ohio just might be on the verge of finding a more effective treatment for cardiovascular disease.
That’s right, according to Case Western Reserve University’s Andrei Maiseyeu, associate professor at the Cardiovascular Research Institute and Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, their finding could bring us much closer to understanding how “diet-induced plaque resolution occurs at a molecular level.”
The aforementioned piece of research can be found in the Nov. 26, 2024 issue of Cell Reports, an open access journal which publishes peer-reviewed studies that cover the biological sciences.
Now this is some amazingly welcome news considering the fact that cardiovascular disease - which involves the buildup of clogging plaques in the heart’s coronary arteries - is currently the leading cause of mortality for both sexes as well as for most all racial and ethnic groups in the United States.
To put a number on that we’re talking about 697,000 deaths annually according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And the maddening thing about cardiovascular disease is the fact that even with the use of medications specifically targeting the buildup of plaques in the arteries and with a plethora of dietary modifications and the addition of cardiovascular exercise, those with cardiovascular disease are still not fully exempt for the deadly effects of this malady.
So in layman’s terms what exactly are we talking about here with this Case Western Reserve study?
Well, we’re actually talking about a discovery that has occurred at the nano biological level.
Indeed, what Case’s researchers have uncovered is the critical role a small molecule plays with respect to its inflammation reduction and plaque stabilization abilities.
The molecule in question is called itaconate (ITA), and despite the fact that this molecule was first identified in 1836 by Swiss chemist Samuel Baup, its important role as a plaque stabilizer and anti-inflammatory is only now beginning to be understood.
In essence what we’re talking about is a molecule that can mimic the anti-inflammatory effects of a low-fat, cardiovascular-friendly diet.
So having now discovered the role this molecule actually assumes, our understanding of the significance that diet has on cardiovascular health is vastly improving.
What’s more, this discovery is providing us with what could be a potentially better therapeutic approach to treating cardiovascular disease, an approach which involves the use of itaconate via lipid nanoparticles (ITA-LNP).
Such an approach could magnify both the availability of itaconate and its targeted delivery to areas of the body where inflammation and plaque buildups are the most dangerous.
What’s more, by employing lipid nanoparticles as carriers cardiologists could better ensure that these itaconate molecules are sent to very specific sites of the body, thereby minimizing whole body exposure and any of the potential side effects that could arise.
Such a targeted delivery strategy will be a massive step forward in drug treatments because pharmacological therapies have had difficulty over the years in being able to provide exact drug concentrations to specific sites within the body.
Okay, that’s all some pretty darned exciting news.
But let’s slow down a bit because there’s also a cautionary note required here.
That’s right because the Case researchers are not saying we’re on the verge of producing a pharmaceutical - magic bullet - that will negate the need for those lifestyle changes which are typically employed to manage cardiovascular health.
Proper dietary and physical activity protocols will always be part and parcel of controlling cardiovascular disease.
Thus, managing cardiovascular disease will invariably require a multifaceted approach which melds pharmacological strategies with lifestyle modifications.
Professor Maiseyeu and his Case Western team are now in the process of running clinical trials with ITA-LNP as well as working to develop a pill form of this treatment.
But as mentioned, the researchers are still very adamant that the potential adaptation of this new form of treatment should still go hand in hand with lifestyle modifications.
Hopefully such a holistic approach to treating cardiovascular disease will soon provide us with a much more effective therapeutic pathway.