14 DAY TRIAL // Heart failure, also known as congenital heart failure, is a medical condition that affects more than 23 million people worldwide today and claims the lives of 600,000 yearly. Finding a cure for this widespread disease has been a top goal for medical researchers since inventions in technology allowed for a better understanding of what's actually going on inside cells when defects occur.
Apparently, small bits of ribonucleic acid (RNA), called microRNA, are responsible for the appearance of symptoms related to heart failure, even before the condition becomes obvious to doctors. An mRNA in particular, miR-21, has been observed to appear 3 to 5 times more in the hearts of mice about to have a stroke or a heart attack, than in others in the control group.
The research focused mainly on mice because of their remarkable similarity to humans, in what concerns genetic make-up. Most drugs were tested on the unsuspecting creatures before they filled the shelves in pharmacies and hospitals worldwide. "We believe that this is the first study to clearly demonstrate therapeutic efficacy for targeting microRNAs in an animal model of human disease," argued Kleanthis Xanthopoulos, chief executive at Regulus Therapeutics, an alliance between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc, both American biotech companies.
There are a variety of factors that can trigger the appearance of congenital heart defects, including genetic heritage, prolonged heart stress, some infections and high blood pressure. The heart then becomes unable to supply the organs in the body with enough blood, which eventually leads to heart attacks or strokes.
Showing faith in the new area of research, drug giants, such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc, already started investing in the field, with GSK alone signing a deal with Regulus Therapeutics, which could be worth in excess of $600 million. Conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease are also targeted by similar genetic research, and developments are bound to occur for these afflictions as well.