- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a sense of urgency.
When UC Davis researchers Bruce Hammock and Nipavan Chiamvimonvat and their team discovered that a prototype drug reduces heart enlargement--one of the most common causes of heart failure--and published their work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the response was overwhelming.
Electronic and print news media throughout the world picked it up. So did bloggers and other social networkers. But the most heartwarming responses came from heart patients.
One person e-mailed Hammock: "I've been following your research in cardiac hypertrophy for sometime and we really thank you." He said his family has a history of cardiac hypertrophy and wants to know more about the developments.
And to think this research sprang from studies on insect pest control in the Hammock lab.
The research in the Chiamvimonvat and Hammock laboratories showed that the new class of drugs reduces heart swelling in rat models with heart failure.
“This holds promise to treat heart failure and other cardiovascular as well as kidney problems,” said nephrology professor Robert Weiss, Department of Internal Medicine.
Similar compounds are now in clinical trials.
"It certainly gives a feeling of urgency," agreed Hammock.