A new gene therapy treats heart attacks.

A new gene therapy treats heart attacks. An Italian-led research team has discovered it. A small "genetic medicine" transferred to the heart has stimulated the regeneration of the infarcted heart and the almost complete recovery of its functionality. The study, published on the journal's website, was managed by researchers from the Institute of Life Sciences of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and by the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) of Trieste. Myocardial infarction, caused by the sudden occlusion of one of the coronary arteries, is the leading cause of heart failure, a condition that affects more than 23 million people worldwide according to the World Health Organization, largely incapacity of the heart to repair the damage it suffers. The study evaluated how the administration of a small RNA, called microRNA-199, is able to stimulate the regeneration of the heart, which is similar to the point of view of the anatomical and physiological properties of cardiac function one month after the heart attack. https://lnkd.in/evttNGD hashtagterapiagenetics hashtagbiotechnology hashtagheart hashtagmedic