Increasing PPAR in HF
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Increasing PPAR-alpha as a Potential Therapy in Non-Ischaemic Heart Failure
IRAS ID
319180
Contact name
Oliver Rider
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Heart failure is a condition where the heart is weakened and does not pump enough blood around the body to meet its’ needs. Sufferers experience shortness of breath and leg swelling. We have previously shown that this weakness can stem from heart cells being unable to generate enough chemical energy (a substance called adenosine triphosphate or ATP), and this relates to an inability to take up and metabolise fats and sugars, the ‘fuels’ the heart uses to produce this energy.
Experiments undertaken by our group showed that supplying extra fats to the heart in the form of a fat drip improved the chemical energy production and pumping ability of the heart. We are therefore setting out to find if signalling the heart to increase its rate of fat metabolism using a commonly used drug will have similar effects on energy production and pumping ability, so could be used in the future as a basis for new treatments for this condition.
We are looking to recruit a small group of volunteers; people living with heart failure of the type not caused by heart attacks (non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy). These people will be started on a fibrate drug, a medicine commonly used to reduce the fat content of the blood which also has the effect of speeding up the heart’s fat metabolism. They will have MRI scans before and after, to measure the changes in the heart’s chemical metabolism and the pumping ability of the heart. A small cohort who are having pacemakers implanted will be offered an additional study where we measure blood samples from the heart during the pacemaker procedure.
Some data has also suggested a different type of fuel, called a ketone, may have similar effects on the heart to the fat. In this study we will also test this hypothesis by giving the participants in the study a drink which elevates blood ketones and measure the effects using the MRI and pacemaker techniques mentioned above.REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0894
Date of REC Opinion
21 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion