Press release issued:
Weight-loss (GLP-1 mimicking) drugs may help prevent further tissue damage following a heart attack, significantly reducing the risk of further life-threatening complications that affect up to half of all patients, according to a new study led by the University of Bristol and University College London (UCL).
Published in Nature Communications today (3 March), the research suggests that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could offer a promising new therapeutic approach for improving heart attack recovery.
Previous studies have shown that GLP-1 weight-loss drugs can lower the risk of serious heart problems, regardless of a person’s other health conditions or the amount of weight lost.
In this study, researchers wanted to understand the mechanisms underpinning how these drugs support heart health. Building on their previous work showing that small contractile cells called pericytes constrict coronary capillaries at the onset of ischaemia (when the heart isn’t receiving enough oxygen-rich blood), the team investigated how GLP-1 might reverse these blockages.
Dr Svetlana Mastitskaya, Senior Lecturer in Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences (THS) and the study’s lead author, explained: “In nearly half of all heart attack patients, tiny blood vessels within the heart muscle remain narrowed, even after the main artery is cleared during emergency medical treatment. This results in a complication known as ‘no-reflow,’ where blood is unable to reach certain parts of the heart tissue.
“Our previous research has shown that this narrowing of blood vessels contributes significantly to ‘no-reflow,’ a complication that increases the risk of death or hospital admission for heart failure within a year of a heart attack. But our latest findings are surprising in that we have found GLP-1 drugs may prevent this problem.”
Using animal models, the team discovered that GLP-1 drugs improve blood flow to the heart following a heart attack by activating potassium channels and thus relaxing pericytes. This allows constricted blood vessels to dilate and reduces the risk of further damage to the heart.
Professor David Attwell, Jodrell Professor of Physiology at UCL, and the study’s co-lead, added: “With an increasing number of similar GLP-1 drugs now being used in clinical practice, for conditions ranging from type 2 diabetes and obesity to kidney disease, our findings highlight the potential for these existing drugs to be repurposed to treat the risk of ‘no-reflow’ in heart attack patients, offering a potentially life-saving solution.”
Dr Svetlana Mastitskaya is funded by the British Heart Foundation.
Paper
‘GLP-1 activates KATP channels in coronary pericytes as the effector of brain-gut-heart signalling mediating cardioprotection’ by Svetlana Mastitskaya, Felipe Santos Simões de Freitas, Lowri E. Evans, David Attwell in Nature Communications (open access)
Further information
Summary
When part of the heart does not get enough blood (called ischaemia), the tiny muscle cells around blood vessels (capillaries), called pericytes, can tighten up.
During a heart attack, blood flow to the heart is suddenly blocked, usually because a clot forms over a fatty plaque in one of heart’s main arteries. In most cases, an emergency procedure is performed to reopen the artery and restore blood flow, with the aim of minimising further damage to the heart tissue. After a heart attack, the pericytes sometimes stay tightened, keeping the blood vessels narrowed and reducing blood flow even after a blocked artery is reopened. This can make heart damage worse.
In this study, heart researchers found that weight loss GLP-1 drugs help relax pericytes by activating potassium channels. This allows constricted capillaries to dilate (widen), improving blood flow to heart tissue after a heart attack.
About GLP-1 weight-loss drugs
GLP-1 is a hormone that’s naturally made in your body. Medicines that mimic it, like semaglutide or liraglutide, are commonly used for diabetes and weight loss. These are prescription medications, often sold as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus, used to manage type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management in adults with obesity or weight-related conditions. In this study, researchers used Exendin-4, a GLP-1 receptor agonist that is analogous to Ozempic.
Generic illustration of a human heart
