University of Leeds developing new treatment for heart failure

The University of Leeds has received a £150,000 grant from national charity Heart Research UK for a project to help identify new drug treatments for heart failure patients.

The project aims to identify new drug treatments for the loss of muscle strength experienced by heart failure patients. By investigating the causes of muscle weakness and identifying potential new drugs, the University hopes to improve quality of life and survival rates in heart failure patients.

Heart failure usually occurs when the heart muscle has become too weak to work properly, with the organ then failing to pump enough blood around the body.

It’s thought that around 1 million people in the UK have heart failure, with numbers increasing. Many patients experience severe muscle weakness but there is currently no effective drugs available.  

The team at the University of Leeds has discovered that heart failure patients have higher muscle levels of a protein called MuRF1’, which they believe plays an important role in muscle weakness caused by heart failure.

When MuRF1 levels are reduced, through exercise for example, muscle strength and mass improve in heart failure. However, with many heart failure patients being too ill to perform exercise, the team has started the project to identify drugs that can block MuRF1.

So far, the team has identified one novel drug that can block MuRF1, with early findings showing that it improves muscle strength.

Dr Scott Bowen, who is leading the project, said: “If successful, this project will help us understand what causes muscle weakness in heart failure and identify new drug treatments for loss of muscle strength.

“It’s an incredibly exciting area of study and one that we hope will soon translate into real patient benefit. We are very grateful to Heart Research UK for allowing us to undertake this vital research.”

Kate Bratt-Farrar, chief executive of Heart Research UK, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the work of Dr Bowen and his team, which has the potential to really improve the quality of life for people living with heart failure.

“Our Translational Research Project Grants are all about bridging the gap between laboratory-based scientific research and patient care - they aim to bring the latest developments to patients as soon as possible.

“The dedication we see from UK researchers is both encouraging and impressive and we at Heart Research UK are proud to be part of it.”