AN ANTIOXIDANT drug could save lives after University of Reading researchers find its promising effects.
Funded by the British Heart Foundation, the research carried out saw that the new drug, cysteamine, could be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
When a type of fat called LDL cholesterol becomes oxidised and plaques are formed in the artery walls, blood clots are created.
These clots block vital arteries and stop blood flow, causing heart attacks.
The fat can be oxidised in acidic small bags, called lysosomes, in immune cells within the artery wall.
Already known to be safe in humans, cysteamine works by accumulating in the lysosomes and stops the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
When the researchers looked at mice with atherosclerosis, those treated with the drug had a 32 to 56% reduction in the size of atherosclerotic plaques.
Cysteamine decreased the amount of oxidised fat by 73% and increased the stability of the atherosclerotic areas.
Professor David Leake, BHF-funded researcher who led the study, said the potential in the drug to protect and save lives “superseded” his expectations.
“We hoped it would cause plaques to grow at a slower pace, but we were amazed to find it reversed the process,” he said.
“Cysteamine would offer an entirely new way of treating atherosclerosis.
“We now want to look at the most efficient way to give this drug to patients, and hope that it can be taken to clinical trials in the next few years.”
Professor James Leiper, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The more ways we can find to treat the root cause of cardiovascular disease, the more lives and livelihoods that can be saved.”
To find out more, visit bhf.org.uk
