Targeting Immune Cells May Aid Heart Failure Treatment

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Around 64 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure, and nearly half die within the first five years of diagnosis due to a lack of effective treatments. Shyam Bansal, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Penn State, has been studying how the immune system's T cells may be responsible for worsening heart failure. His research has found that T cells in failing hearts turn on pro-inflammatory proteins that cause more damage instead of healing the heart, similar to how T cells behave in autoimmune diseases. This suggests that viewing heart failure as an autoimmune condition could lead to new treatments that stop T cells from damaging the heart and halt the disease's progression.

Why it matters

Heart failure is a major global health issue, with high mortality rates due to a lack of effective treatments that address the underlying causes of the disease. Bansal's research provides new insights into the role of the immune system in heart failure, which could open up novel therapeutic approaches targeting the immune system to stop the disease from worsening.

The details

Bansal's team found that a type of immune cell called helper T cells makes proteins called pro-inflammatory cytokines that induce more damage to the heart during heart failure, making the disease worse. In studies of failing hearts from transplant and artificial pump patients, they also discovered that T cells remain active in failing hearts and turn on pro-inflammatory proteins that worsen heart damage instead of healing it. The proteins within T cells of failing hearts were similar to those seen in T cells involved in autoimmune diseases, suggesting heart failure induces T cells to behave like those in autoimmune conditions rather than those that heal injuries.

• For the past 13 years, Bansal has been studying how the T cells of the immune system behave during heart failure.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Further research on how to stop T cells from damaging the heart could provide a way to stop heart failure from worsening and save the lives of millions of patients.