Heart failures are a common sight to be seen in most of the people in today’s world. Recently a research team led by the Queen Mary University of London has come up with better tools that could prevent heart failures and identify the reasons behind the risk of the disease.
A total of 17,000 volunteers have volunteered for Artificial Intelligence heart MRI images in UK Biobank. The researchers have linked genetic factors behind heart failures out of which 22% to 39% of abnormalities in the size and function of the heart’s left ventricle, the one which pumps up blood into the aorta. These images along with the data have been published in the journal Circulations.
The team of researchers has covered extensive research from which they found out that there are 14 regions in the human genome that play a part in determining the size and function of the left ventricle. These regions contain genes that regulate the early development of heart chambers and the contraction of the heart muscle. The heart muscles’ ability to contract and pump blood is due to the enlargement of the left ventricle which can hamper the heart muscles thus putting the patient at a high-risk for heart failure.
“This study has shown that several genes are known to be important in heart failure also appear to regulate the heart size and function in healthy people,” says co-author Steffen Petersen of Queen Mary in a statement.
Today the AI has been used extensively to gain insights into cardiovascular disease. There are many types of research that are looking forward to treating heart disease in different possible ways, including using immune therapies and regenerative approaches. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have developed genetically modified T cells to attack and remove cardiac fibroblasts, which can lead to cardiac fibrosis. Scientists at the University of Cambridge have combines two cells derived from human stem cells- heart muscle cells and supportive epicardial cells that help the muscle cells live longer.
“Our academic and commercial partners are further developing these AI algorithms to analyze other aspects of cardiac structure and function,” lead researcher Nay Aung said in the statement.