Gene therapy may reverse heart failure

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Long-term gene therapy resulted in improved cardiac function and reversed deterioration of the heart in rats with heart failure, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Center for Translational Medicine in Philadelphia said that the rats were treated with a gene that generates a peptide called ARKct, which works by inhibiting the activation of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2, or GRK2.

Walter J. Koch said that GRK2 is a kinase -- a type of enzyme -- that is increased in heart failure. The theory is that by inhibiting this kinase, the heart will recover, Koch said. ARKct leads to a negative neurohormonal feedback that prevents the heart from continuing on the downward slope during heart failure, Koch said.

The study, published in the online in the journal Circulation, found that 12 weeks after receiving the treatment, the rats who received the ARKct increased cardiac function and reversed the left ventricular deterioration and normalized the neurohormonal status.

"Our data show that beta blockers and the ARKct peptide are compatible and can be given together," Koch said in a statement. "Although beta blockers are effective at stopping the downward progression of the disease, they do not reverse the damage already done. That is where the ARKct gene therapy comes in."