LONDON, Mar 27, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A British study suggests cardiac
medicines known as beta-blockers might heal the heart via the brain when
administered during heart failure.
Up to now medical scientists have believed beta-blockers -- drugs that slow
heart rate, lower blood pressure, control angina and help protect against from
heart attack -- worked directly on the heart. But researchers at University
College London said the drugs might also act via the brain, suggesting future
cardiovascular disease therapies might target the central nervous system.
The study, based on a rat model of postmyocardial infarction-induced heart
failure, discovered the beta-adrenoceptor blocker metoprolol acts directly in
the brain to slow the progression of heart failure.
"Our study shows the importance of the brain in regulating the cardiovascular
system," said Professor Mike Spyer, co-author of the research. "This is often
ignored by cardiologists who concentrate on the dynamics of cardiac contraction
and the receptors on the heart that influence this, rather than how the nervous
innervation of the heart is regulated."
The UCL findings appear in the journal Circulation Research.
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