Research Highlights

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  • Data from the ARIES-HM3 trial show that excluding aspirin from the antithrombotic regimen in patients with advanced heart failure and a left ventricular assist device reduces the number of bleeding events and does not increase the risk of thromboembolism.

    • Gregory B. Lim
    Research Highlight
  • Activation of a specific set of vagal sensory neurons connecting the ventricular wall of the heart to the area postrema in the brainstem causes mice to faint. This finding defines a cardiac reflex that recapitulates characteristics of human syncope.

    • Gregory B. Lim
    Research Highlight
  • Two new studies using cryo-electron microscopy describe the structure and conformation of myosin in the cardiac thick filaments and how it interacts with other thick-filament proteins, such as titin and cardiac myosin-binding protein C, in mammalian hearts.

    • Gregory B. Lim
    Research Highlight
  • Treatment with the small interfering RNA patisiran preserves functional capacity and improves health status and quality of life in patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, according to data from the 12-month double-blind period of the ongoing APOLLO-B trial.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz
    Research Highlight
  • NAD-dependent protein deacetylase sirtuin 2 is a key protective mediator against cardiac ageing, according to a study in non-human primates.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz
    Research Highlight
  • SARS-CoV-2 infects macrophages, especially lipid-laden foam cells, in coronary atherosclerotic plaques in patients with COVID-19; this infection initiates a strong proatherogenic inflammatory response, which might contribute to the ischaemic cardiovascular complications in these patients.

    • Gregory B. Lim
    Research Highlight
  • In a study published in Nature, Jia and colleagues use advanced optical electrophysiology tools coupled with 3D-printed moulds to capture the very first heartbeat of zebrafish.

    • Karina Huynh
    Research Highlight
  • The metabolic maturation of mammalian cardiomyocytes that occurs during the early postnatal period shapes the epigenetic landscape of cardiomyocytes and creates a barrier for cell division, but reversing this remodelling process can restore the reparative capacity of the heart in mice, according to a study published in Nature.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz
    Research Highlight
  • Two studies now report that TET2-driven clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) is associated with poor prognosis in patients with heart failure (HF) and preserved ejection fraction and that DNMT3A CHIP driver mutations promote dysregulated gene expression profiles that are associated with inflammation in monocytes in the setting of HF.

    • Karina Huynh
    Research Highlight
  • In patients with heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction and obesity, treatment with the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist semaglutide (2.4 mg) leads to large reductions in HF-related symptoms and physical limitations, improves exercise function and decreases body weight compared with placebo, according to the STEP-HFpEF trial.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz
    Research Highlight
  • The FIRE trial showed that complete revascularization improves outcomes in older patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and multivessel disease compared with culprit-lesion-only revascularization, whereas the MULTISTARS AMI trial reported that immediate multivessel revascularization is non-inferior to staged revascularization in patients with ST-segment elevation MI.

    • Karina Huynh
    Research Highlight
  • New data from the ECLS-SHOCK trial and a meta-analysis indicate that the routine use of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation does not increase survival in patients with myocardial infarction-related cardiogenic shock.

    • Gregory B. Lim
    Research Highlight
  • Two clinical trials presented at the ESC Congress 2023 provide conflicting evidence on the use of optical coherence tomography to guide percutaneous coronary intervention.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz
    Research Highlight