October 1, 1999 - A natural chemical compound in the body called
pyruvate, combined with adrenaline-like catecholamine drugs improves the
function of a failing heart. The findings are reported in the October issue
of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.
	Catecholamine drugs are often used during heart surgery to stimulate
heart function, but using such drugs is risky. Catecholamine drugs force the
heart to consume lots of energy to help the heart pump. If the heart's energy
supply gets too low, dangerous side effects can occur, including irregular
heart beat, cardiac arrest and injury or death of heart tissue.
	Robert Mallet and James Caffrey combined pyruvate with the drugs,
which increased the drugs' effectiveness and allowed lower, safer doses to be
used. "The most valuable finding of this research is proving that pyruvate
makes catecholamine drugs more effective, lowering the dose required to
restore heart function," said Dr. Mallet. "Using a lower dose avoids much of
the risk involved with using catecholamine drugs. Instead, when pyruvate is
combined with the drugs, the heart's energy reserves are maintained, and at
the same time the heart's ability to pump blood is greatly improved."
	Pyruvate is easily used by heart cells to make energy. Dr. Mallet
was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for this research.
Work examining pyruvate's effects in a failing human heart has also been done
in Germany. German cardiologists found significant improvement in the human
heart's function when pyruvate was given.

http://www.hsc.unt.edu/