Patients with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension or obesity may develop a form of heart failure called "with preserved ejection fraction". This is a very common disease among the elderly, especially women. It is often accompanied by a heart muscle hypertrophy gradually hindering the proper filling of the heart chambers. There is currently no specific treatment for patients suffering from this pathology, beyond the control of risk factors. Activation of beta3-adrenergic cardiac receptors represents a novel target for this disease.
Pre-clinical studies on mice have already shown the benefit of the activation of this receptor on the reduction of the hypertrophy and fibrosis of the heart muscle. The european multicenter study coordinated by Prof. Jean-Luc Balligand will allow the initial validation of these pre-clinical observations in a Phase IIb trial on patients, partly recruited from the cardiovascular pathology department of the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, suffering from myocardial hypertrophy and at risk of developing this particular form of heart failure. The objective of this study is to test over 12 months the possible additional beneficial effect of the new molecule in this original cardiac indication ("drug re-purposing"). To this end, researchers will analyze the quantitative change of myocardial hypertrophy assessed by magnetic resonance (CMR) and the diastolic ventricular function, measured by Doppler echocardiography.
In summary, the study aims at the validation of an original experimental concept whose clinical translation would represent a significant advance in the treatment of a major health problem.