Investigation of Novel Biomarkers and Treatment Targets for Pediatric Heart Failure
Abstract
Human hearts are unable to self-repair due to their very limited endogenous regenerative capacity. Thus, mortality rates of heart failure are extremely high. Indeed, pediatric heart failure (PHF) is the leading non-trauma-related cause of death for an infant, child, or adolescent in the United States. Many children with PHF are treated by inserting a pump known as a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) into the heart to assist blood circulation. However, most patients dont response to LVAD treatment and require heart transplantation. Unfortunately, transplantation is severely limited by the scarcity of donor hearts. Hence, an unmet clinical need is to determine how to predict PHF patient response to LVAD treatment. This would ease the decision of physicians on whether heart transplantation is needed. Identification of biomarkers in blood samples would provide a novel non-invasive method to determine whether the heart is improving upon LVAD treatment. Hence, our study is aimed at developing gene expression signature-based methods that predict whether PHF patients respond favorably to LVAD treatment. Our studies are also aimed at facilitating endogenous cardiac regeneration with the goal of significantly improving PHF survival rates. As such, we will employ cutting-edge techniques to determine the molecular mechanisms that stimulate endogenous cardiac regeneration in order to develop novel therapeutic approaches.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1093862
Entities
People
- James F. Martin
Organizations
- Baylor College of Medicine