(Press-News.org) Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against myocardial infarction, according to a new KI study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The study also shows that the protective effect is enhanced by a nitrate-rich vegetable diet.
Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all of the body’s cells and carbon dioxide back to the lungs. A new study, conducted at Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital, now shows that red blood cells have an intrinsic function of protecting against heart injury caused by myocardial infarction.
The effect is enhanced by a diet containing nitrate-rich vegetables, such as arugula and other green leafy vegetables.
“This effect was also shown in a clinical study in patients with high blood pressure who were randomly assigned to eat nitrate-rich vegetables or a diet low in nitrates,” says John Pernow, Professor of Cardiology at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet in Solna and senior physician at Karolinska University Hospital, and the study’s corresponding author together with Jon Lundberg, professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet.
Part of the study was conducted through experiments with red blood cells from mice that were added to a myocardial infarction model with hearts from mice. Before the experiment, the red blood cells were exposed to low oxygen pressure, while nitrate was added to the drinking water.
In a clinical study, red blood cells were collected from patients with high blood pressure who were randomly assigned a nitrate-rich diet with green leafy vegetables or a diet with nitrate-poor vegetables. These red blood cells were given to the corresponding myocardial infarction model with hearts from rats.
“The results show both that the red blood cells convey protection against injury in the heart in the event of low oxygen levels, and how that protection can be enhanced through a simple dietary advice. This may be of great importance for patients at risk of myocardial infarction,” says the study’s first author Jiangning Yang, a researcher at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet.
The next step in the research is to develop additional drugs that can activate the protective signalling mechanism in red blood cells to provide protection to the body’s tissues and cells in the event of oxygen deficiency.
“In addition, we need to map how the blood cells transmit their protective signal to the heart muscle cells,” says John Pernow.
The study is a collaboration between researchers from, among others, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Tohoku University, Japan, Heinrich-Heine-University, Germany, and Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany.
The research was funded by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and Region Stockholm’s ALF project funds. Jon Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg hold patents related to therapies based on inorganic nitrate. Other researchers report no conflicts of interest.
Publication: “Hypoxic erythrocytes mediate cardioprotection through activation of soluble guanylate cyclase and release of cyclic GMP”. Jiangning Yang, Michaela L. Sundqvist, Xiaowei Zheng, Tong Jiao, Aida Collado, Yahor Tratsiakovich, Ali Mahdi, John Tengbom, Evanthia Mergia, Sergiu-Bogdan Catrina, Zhichao Zhou, Mattias Carlström, Takaaki Akaike, Miriam M. Cortese-Krott, Eddie Weitzberg, Jon O. Lundberg, John Pernow. Journal of Clinical Investigation, online September 1, 2023, doi: 10.1172/JCI167693
END
Red blood cells exposed to oxygen deficiency protect against myocardial infarction
2023-09-01
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
UMC Utrecht investigates the link between RSV infection and chronic respiratory tract disease
2023-09-01
UMC Utrecht will lead an international consortium that will try to answer a key question that’s in the mind of many pediatricians, infectiologists, pulmonologists and other health professionals: “Why are children that had an RSV infection in early childhood at increased risk of developing asthma later in life?” The project - which will run for five years - is funded by a HORIZON HLTH 2023 grant from the European Commission of € 7 million.
Chronic respiratory tract diseases such as asthma and COPD ...
Study shows making cities greener doesn’t just capture carbon – it reduces it
2023-09-01
Dozens of European cities could reach net zero carbon emissions over the next 10 years by incorporating nature into their infrastructure, according to a new study.
Published recently in the journal, Nature Climate Change, the analysis shows the ways cities can orchestrate a wide range of green solutions like parks, streetscaping and roof gardens to not only capture carbon emissions, but help reduce them.
The study was undertaken by researchers from Sweden, the U.S. and China. It recommends the most effective approaches for natural carbon sequestration in 54 cities in the EU. And it shows how blending these steps with other climate ...
Researchers find Antarctic ice shelves thinner than previously thought
2023-09-01
COLUMBUS, Ohio – As global ice dams begin to weaken due to warming temperatures, a new study suggests that prior attempts to evaluate the mass of the huge floating ice shelves that line the Antarctic ice sheet may have overestimated their thickness.
The research, recently published in the Journal of Glaciology, is the first large-scale study of its kind to compare ice shelf thickness data from ice-penetrating radar measurements to thickness data estimated from contemporary surface elevation measurements.
By juxtaposing vast datasets of 20 of the 300 ...
Di-isononyl phthalate disrupts pregnancy in mice, study finds
2023-09-01
We are constantly exposed to phthalates in our environment through plastic products such as storage containers, medical devices, packages, fabrics, and toys. Specifically, di-isononyl phthalate is inevitably becoming a part of our lives. Unfortunately, the impact of DiNP on the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy is largely unknown. In a new study, researchers used mice to understand how DiNP affects pregnancy.
“Although we finally recognize that environmental chemicals impact women's health, most studies have focused on men’s reproductive health and very few studies have looked at how these chemicals affect women,” said Jodi Flaws (EIRH co-leader/MME), ...
Health System Program Improved Equity in Allocation of Scarce Medication
2023-09-01
A program designed to ensure fairness and that people living in the most disadvantaged U.S. neighborhoods would be offered a scarce, potentially life-saving medication proved feasible in a large health system. The approach can improve equity in receipt of the drug by people disproportionately affected by disease, according to a new analysis published today in JAMA Health Forum by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC scientist-clinicians.
However, the study revealed that more work needs to be done in building trust with and improving the ability to contact Black patients to ensure they ultimately receive scarce medications and other health care resources ...
Weighted lottery to equitably allocate scarce supply of COVID-19 monoclonal antibody
2023-09-01
About The Study: The results of this study suggest that a weighted lottery to allocate scarce resources is feasible and may result in more drug allocation to individuals who reside in disadvantaged neighborhoods and who identify as Black; however, Black individuals allocated the drug may be less likely to accept allocation and receive it.
Authors: Erin K. McCreary, Pharm.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit ...
Telehealth vs in-clinic medication abortion services
2023-09-01
About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that telehealth medication abortion services (tele-MAB) facilitates abortion care access for those further from brick-and mortar abortion facilities and, thus, may mitigate the impacts of travel logistics and costs. Additionally, tele-MAB may better meet the needs of those with prior abortion experience, perhaps due to greater familiarity with the abortion process.
Authors: Anna E. Fiastro, M.P.H., M.E.M., Ph.D., of the University of Washington in Seattle, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.31900)
Editor’s ...
The eyes are a window into the deciding mind
2023-09-01
Researchers worldwide are seeking visible indicators of what is going on inside our minds as we think about issues and take decisions. They are searching for the ability to probe the invisible workings of the mind by monitoring subtle signals from the body. New insights from experiments at Tohoku University have revealed a link between eye movements and certain types of decision-making. Kazumichi Matsumiya and Shota Furukawa at the university's Graduate School of Information Sciences reported their findings in the journal Communications Biology.
"Our work has revealed that eye movements that are not ...
Three types of boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation influence precipitation over the Yangtze river valley in various ways
2023-09-01
The Yangtze River Valley (YRV) is one of the most densely populated and economically developed regions in China. Summer precipitation over this region shows considerable intraseasonal variability with a period of 10–90 days, which can induce extreme precipitation events and lead to massive economic losses and human casualties.
The Boreal Summer Intraseasonal Oscillation (BSISO) is the intraseasonal variability active in the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific region. Over the last three decades, scientists have studied the influence of the BSISO, because it is an essential predictability source in extended-range forecasts.
A new study published in Atmospheric ...
Roadmap drafted for research into metallic ‘sponges’ for clean hydrogen
2023-09-01
Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) could deliver a major efficiency boost to the photocatalytic production of clean hydrogen. Chemical engineers have drafted a comprehensive overview of the state of their field and a plan for where it needs to focus.
Clean hydrogen production remains an energy-intensive and therefore costly proposition, inhibiting the battle against global warming. Metal organic frameworks—in effect tiny molecular ‘sponges’—look set to radically improve the efficiency of photocatalytic production of hydrogen due to their unique structural ...