SARPOGRELATE MIGHT BE THE NEXT POTENTIAL TREATMENT FOR HEART FAILURE

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

According to preliminary animal study, sarpogrelate, an antiplatelet drug, has the potential to become a new heart failure treatment and reduce health-care expenses related with cardiovascular disease. The findings of the study were presented at the American Heart Association's virtual Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions 2021, which took place from August 23 to August 25.

Cardiac hypertrophy is the abnormal thickening or enlargement of the heart muscles, which can lead to heart failure. Cardiomyocytes, the cells responsible for contracting the heart muscle, develop thicker than normal, which is one cause of cardiac hypertrophy. With each contraction of the heart, the thickened cells grow stiff, decreasing the amount of blood pumped out to the body (heartbeat). Heart failure develops as a result of cellular contraction.

The antiplatelet medicine sarpogrelate was found as a potential candidate after researchers examined a variety of compounds that reduce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Sarpogrelate is a serotonin receptor antagonist that causes vasodilation, or the widening of blood vessels, as well as reducing cell damage.

The effects of sarpogrelate on cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and the development of heart failure in mice were investigated in this study. Cultured cardiomyocyte cells were first treated with 1 microgram (or 1M) of sarpogrelate before being stimulated with various hypertrophic agents to induce cell growth. Sarpogrelate significantly reduced the hypertrophy of cardiomyocytes caused by each stimulation.