Fasting before chemotherapy treatment has been shown to assist heart cells keep regular autophagy activity in imaging tests using nanoparticles.
Recently, a team headed by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital developed a nanoparticle probe that can identify signs of chemotherapy-induced cardiac damage.
Chemotherapy for cancer patients can be a life-saving procedure, but a few of these medications can damage the heart. A team led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has actually established a nanoparticle probe that can recognize an indicator of chemotherapy-induced heart damage.
Experiments using the probe also revealed that intermittent fasting prior to treatment can stop the development of this heart damage sign in cancer-bearing mice, protecting heart function and extending survival.
The research study, which was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, concentrated on autophagy, a mechanism through which cells remove extraneous or unhealthy parts. Reduced levels of autophagy have been linked to cardiovascular disease and other health problems, but autophagy can also be a major motorist of cell death, producing a delicate balance between its advantageous and hazardous repercussions.
An autophagy-detecting nanoparticle was developed by David E. Sosnovik, MD, and his colleagues that allows scientists to non-invasively measure autophagy activity within the body using either fluorescent or magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Sosnovik is the director of the Program in Cardiovascular Imaging at MGHs Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.
When the scientists intravenously injected the nanoparticles into mice with cancer, they could determine changes in autophagy in heart tissue under different conditions, such as after chemotherapy. The nanoparticles discovered decreased autophagy activity in heart cells exposed to the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, which can trigger heart damage. Treatment with statins or fasting prior to doxorubicin treatment allowed the animals heart cells to keep normal autophagy activity.
” We reveal with our nanoparticle that intermittent fasting– drinking water however no food for 24 hours prior to the chemotherapy is provided– restores autophagy, eliminates the damage to the heart muscle, and even improves overall survival,” says Sosnovik, the senior author of the study.
Sosnovik worries that complementary research in people is required, especially because the results of fasting on autophagy in a growth are unclear. “We are not suggesting that patients today fast prior to their chemotherapy.
The teams autophagy-detecting nanoparticles could be utilized to acquire a much better understanding of the role of autophagy in a broad range of diseases.
Reference: “A nanoparticle probe for the imaging of autophagic flux in live mice via magnetic resonance and near-infrared fluorescence” by Howard H. Chen, Zehedina Khatun, Lan Wei, Choukri Mekkaoui, Dakshesh Patel, Sally Ji Who Kim, Asma Boukhalfa, Efosa Enoma, Lin Meng, Yinching I. Chen, Leena Kaikkonen, Guoping Li, Diane E. Capen, Parul Sahu, Anand T. N. Kumar, Robert M. Blanton, Hushan Yuan, Saumya Das, Lee Josephson and David E. Sosnovik, 11 July 2022, Nature Biomedical Engineering.DOI: 10.1038/ s41551-022-00904-3.
The study was moneyed by the NIH/National Institutes of Health.
When the scientists intravenously injected the nanoparticles into mice with cancer, they could determine modifications in autophagy in heart tissue under various conditions, such as after chemotherapy. The nanoparticles found decreased autophagy activity in heart cells exposed to the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, which can trigger heart damage. Treatment with statins or fasting prior to doxorubicin treatment enabled the animals heart cells to preserve typical autophagy activity.