Light-based therapies to reduce lesions caused by infarction

Amadeu Llebaria

Institut de Química Avançada de Catalunya IQAC-CSIC, Spain

A myocardial infarction occurs following the occlusion of an artery that blocks blood circulation and prevents oxygen reaching the heart cells, which die. The most effective treatment is restoration of normal blood flow to take oxygen to the damaged area, in a process called reperfusion. Advances in reperfusion therapy have significantly improved survival rates in people who have suffered an acute myocardial infarction. However, this treatment causes serious damage to the heart for which there is still no effective therapy. Consequently, many patients go on to suffer severe sequelae that hinder their future life and may lead to death.

It is necessary to identify new strategies of cardioprotection to reduce the size of the lesion caused by an infarction.

The project will investigate a photochemical therapy to perform localised administration of the optimal dose of a new kind of light-regulated cardio-protective drug that can be activated by illuminating specific areas of the heart during the first minutes of angioplasty, the primary treatment that dilates the obstructed blood vessel. This system should avoid prolonged treatments and thus minimise side effects.

• Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca, Spain

• The Johns Hopkins University, United States of America

High precision cardioprotective therapy: a photoswitchable approach to reduce the extension of myocardial infarction

€999,779.50