Heart disease remains the largest killer in Australia and around the world. A new study has shown that a protein therapy- recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor-AB (rhPDGF-AB) – could improve outcomes following heart attack.
After a heart attack, scar tissue forms and this negatively affects heart function. Now, researchers from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) and the University of Sydney found that, infusing rhPDGF into subjects that have had heart attacks improves the quality of the scar, leads to the formation of new blood vessels in the heart, and reduced rates of dangerous heart arrhythmia (irregularities of heart rhythm that can cause sudden death).
