SCIENTISTS are creating the first ever injection to rescue the heart after a heart attack.
Three newly discovered proteins could prevent lifelong heart failure for tens of thousands of survivors.
Around a million Brits have the incurable condition with most as a result of a heart attack.
Medics currently have no way to stop parts of the muscle dying when blood supply is blocked – and no treatment for heart failure.
An emergency jab worked on mice in lab tests and will be trialled on people in the next two years.
Study leader Professor Mauro Giacca, from King’s College London, said: “Any of the three proteins we have identified can be given immediately after a heart attack to minimise cardiac damage and thus prevent heart failure.
“There has been no significant development in this field for a long time so we are very excited by this discovery.”
Scientists found three proteins that protected the heart in mouse trials – they are named Chrdl1, Fam3c and Fam3b.
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The proteins strengthened the cells that make the heart contract and boosted the process of clearing out dead or damaged cells.
Writing in the journal Science Translational Medicine, experts said the cleaning process is vital for encouraging new healthy cells to grow and is a “major protective mechanism”.
Mice treated with the proteins suffered less cell damage during a heart attack and had better function afterwards.
The proteins grow naturally in the human body and could be made into a treatment to inject “immediately” after a heart attack, the scientists said.
People’s hearts do not stop beating during an attack but blood supply to the muscle gets cut off.
Seven in 10 NHS patients survive but oxygen starvation can kill billions of cells, leaving many with crippling heart failure.
Prof Ajay Shah, from King’s College, said: “If the results we have seen in mice are borne out in human trials, the potential for this is extremely significant.
“There are no effective treatments to prevent the deterioration of heart tissue in the aftermath of a heart attack, which happens rapidly.
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“This could revolutionise treatments for patients at risk of heart failure.”
Prof James Leiper, from the British Heart Foundation, added: “We’re proud to support such a ground-breaking discovery that will hopefully lead to new protective medicines in the future.”
