a Growing data show that South Asians are at higher risk of developing heart disease than whites and tend to develop complications at a younger age, but it’s not entirely clear what explains this difference. It has not become.
New research suggests that one potential reason is that South Asians have a reduced ability to repair blood vessels damaged by cardiovascular disease.
A small study comparing South Asians and Caucasians of European descent found that people of South Asian descent were more important for blood vessel regeneration, according to a study published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Medicine. It was discovered that the levels of certain stem cells were low. Cardiology.
The study comes amid growing awareness of the increased cardiovascular risks faced by South Asians. Research has found that this rapidly growing group, which makes up about a quarter of the world’s population, has twice the risk of heart disease compared to people of European descent. Part of this increased risk may be due to the fact that South Asians are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, which often causes heart disease, but still, Asians appear to develop heart disease more often than Caucasians who have diabetes. Diabetes mellitus.
“We need to understand the biological basis of what’s going on in this population,” said study co-author Subodh Verma, a cardiovascular surgeon at Unity Health Toronto. said. “Young people in South Asia are developing cardiovascular disease. The progression of their heart disease is accelerating. They have higher rates of complications.”
If further research confirms this finding, it could provide a biological explanation for the increased risk among South Asians and help tailor treatments to this population, including prioritizing drugs that specifically target symptoms. This may serve as a guideline when making decisions. To repair blood vessels.
The group of researchers behind this study previously found that Jardiance, a type of diabetes drug known as an SGLT2 inhibitor, increases the levels of stem cells that help regenerate blood vessels in people with and without diabetes. They will soon begin a study to see if the drug is particularly effective in South Asians.
Researchers are also conducting trials to see if semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wigovy, can help boost stem cell levels. Semaglutide was recently shown in a large trial to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications in people with obesity and heart disease.
The study included 60 participants of South Asian descent and 60 Caucasian European descent. Analysis of blood samples found that South Asians had lower levels of two types of stem cells important for blood vessel repair. One type, progenitor cells, can be thought of as “conductors of an orchestra” because they direct other cells, said co-author David Hess, an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto. Another type of stem cell, the monocytic cell, is a “musician” because it carries out more of the repair process.
Monocyte cells can mature and take on inflammatory or repair roles in the body. The researchers found that the South Asians in the study actually had fewer monocytes, which tended to mature into an inflammatory role compared to cells from Caucasian Europeans.
The results of this study also suggest that renal dysfunction may be involved. Worsening kidney function, measured through a measure called eGFR, was associated with lower levels of stem cells in South Asians, but the researchers did not find this association in white Europeans.
Krishnan Ramanathan, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the study, said the study was small and needed more work to prove that low levels of stem cells actually reduce vascular healing. He said that research is needed. and increased risk of heart complications.
Ramanathan, who conducts research on heart disease in South Asians, also noted that most of the study participants (about 60% of Caucasian Europeans and 90% of South Asians) had diabetes. He said he would like to know if he has diabetes. The findings still apply to people without diabetes.
Still, he said the study represents a “new approach” to understanding the increased risk for South Asians. “Our current understanding is that more risk factors means more disease. But does the combination of more risk factors and incurability cause more events?”
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