Regenerating heart cells
Dre Jolanta Gutkowska
You survived a heart attack, and your heart now has sequelae. What does the future hold for you? Medications, heart failure or a transplant? This is not the opinion of Dr. Jolanta Gutkowska.
According to Dr. Gutkowska, who is preparing a major breakthrough in the treatment of heart failure, a simple hormone injection could repair the damage. The Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher believes that the secret to regenerating heart cells is a hormone that plays an important role at birth: oxytocin (OT).
"EO is a well-known reproductive hormone in women, but we believe it can also repair heart damage," says Dr. Gutkowska who designed her revolutionary idea based on several findings suggesting that EO is also A cardiovascular hormone. "Research shows that both men and women have EO. Our team also discovered this hormone and its receptors in the heart. In addition, Dr. Gutkowska and her colleagues demonstrated that EO is active in the heart of the fetus and can play a role in the development of cardiac cells.
"We plan to inject EO into damaged heart tissue to stimulate the growth of new cells," Dr. Gutkowska says. His team will also try to use the OT to create cardiac cells to implant them in a heart heart and thus "recharge" the organ.
Because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in Canada, Dr. Gutkowska's research innovation is of significant significance. "Using EO to restore heart function would be a remarkable leap forward for cardiovascular research," she says. We will soon see new treatments for heart patients. "
Dr. Gutkowska's research program is funded jointly by an Emerging Team Grant from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health. Funding for this grant comes from the Heart and Stroke Foundation Research Fund, a strategic funding initiative to support innovative and multidisciplinary research. The five-year study, whose work is held at the Hôtel-Dieu pavilion in Montreal, is undertaken by a team of five researchers with diverse expertise in physiology, anesthesiology and other disciplines.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is proud to have Dr. Gutkowska among the researchers she funds. Dr. Gutkowska is a passionate researcher who has devoted nearly three decades to scientific research. She was recently named Honorary Professor of Medical Sciences by the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski.