With aging, the heart muscle can change in such a way that the left ventricle can no longer expand properly because it is stiff or thickened. Too little blood then reaches the ventricle and thus the body's circulation - although the heart's pumping capacity, i.e. its ejection capacity, is maintained. This form of cardiac insufficiency is known as diastolic cardiac insufficiency. The so-called diastole - the relaxation phase of the heart muscle - is disturbed.
Gene transfer as a new approach in cardiovascular medicine
A team led by Dr Julian Wagner from Frankfurt University Hospital has now investigated a promising potential therapeutic approach. Using a gene transfer, cardiac function in old age and pathological changes in heart tissue could be improved in an animal model.
The researchers used a natural variant of an endogenous growth factor specifically in the heart muscle. This improved the nerve supply to the heart tissue, facilitated relaxation of the heart muscle and attenuated typical age-related changes - while maintaining the same pumping capacity. Although the thickening of the heart wall was increased by the gene transfer, this appeared to be a compensatory reaction to normalise the symmetry of the heart muscle cells.
‘Our results are very encouraging and show the potential of this approach to slow down or even reverse age-related changes in the heart,’ says Dr Julian Wagner. ‘In the long term, this could develop into a treatment option for patients with age-related heart failure. However, this approach still requires further research.
The results are based on preclinical studies. The extent to which the method can be further developed and whether clinical trials are possible in the medium term still needs to be investigated.
Heart failure on the rise
The number of older people with heart failure is constantly increasing. Yet ageing itself is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease. It is estimated that several million people in Germany suffer from some form of heart failure, many of them diastolic heart failure, for which there is currently no targeted therapy. The investigated therapeutic approach could open up a new avenue here.
Original publication:
Manickam N. et al., Beneficial effects of vascular endothelial growth factor B gene transfer in the aged heart. Cardiovasc Research, March 2025
Scientific Contact:
Dr. re. nat. Julian Wagner, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, j.wagner(at)med.uni-frankfurt.de
