Antioxidants against heart attack

It is known that an increased risk of recurrent stroke or myocardial infarction persists for months after the disease. However, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is not fully understood.

In a recent study conducted on mice, it was shown that due to myocardial infarction, platelets and cells responsible for inflammatory processes begin to "stick" to the inner wall of blood vessels much more actively, thereby provoking accelerated growth of arterial plaques and increasing the vulnerability of blood vessels. This process is called "vascular endothelial activation".

It was possible to visualize this process using a unique technique of lifetime ultrasound scanning. The video from the microscope camera shows how platelets (bright white balls) move through the mouse vessel and stick to its wall.

Scientists have found that this process can be stopped using the drug apocinin – in mice receiving it, the intensity of the inflammatory reaction was reduced to the level of pre-infarction state, and the formation of plaques was reduced by half.

Apocinin is an antioxidant, the main property of which is to block reactive oxygen species, the level of which, in turn, increases as a result of a heart attack. These molecules, among others, serve to spread endothelial activation to vessels farther from the site of the lesion.

This study also explains the previously obtained data that the drug used to treat juvenile arthritis reduces the risk of recurrent heart attack by 15 percent.

The information obtained can form the basis for the development of effective antioxidant therapy aimed at preventing vascular catastrophes.

Article by Moccetti et al. Myocardial Infarction Produces Sustained Inflammatory Endothelial Activation in Remote Arteries in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Anastasia Poznyak, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru / based on materials from Oregon Health & Science University Antioxidant reduces risk for second heart attack, stroke.