SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The University of California San Diego announced on Tuesday that research led by its School of Biological Sciences is changing how heart attacks are viewed and opening a path to new treatments.
The study, published in the journal Cell, examines heart attacks by linking them to other systems, a "triple node."
The study explains that the triple node is the connection between the heart, the brain and the nervous and immune systems.
“Heart attacks are obviously centered in the heart, but we’re flipping the switch on heart attack research to show that it’s not just the heart itself that is involved,” said Augustine, a faculty member in the Department of Neurobiology.
The triple node describes that during a heart attack, the brain responds by activating the immune system, similar to fighting off an injury or illness. But according to the study, since there are no bacteria to fight against a heart attack, the overactivation of the immune system likely worsens damage.
Researchers found in mice that if the activation of the immune system is blocked, there is significantly less damage after a heart attack.
According to the researchers in the study, they believe new treatments for heart attacks could minimize the inadvertent damaging effects of the immune system following a heart attack episode.
