JERUSALEM, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- New international study has discovered that heart damage leads to two distinct types of scar tissues, which require different treatments, Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) reported Tuesday.
The findings, published in Cell Systems, could revolutionize approaches to heart disease and chronic heart failure, WIS said.
When heart muscle is injured, it forms scar tissues to repair the damage instead of regenerating muscle cells. But the tissues will also weaken heart function over time, a problem that has no effective treatment at present.
The study classified those scar tissues, terming them as "hot" when linked to inflammation and "cold" when to minimal immune activity, and found that chronic heart injuries result in "hot" scars, while acute injuries, like a heart attack, lead to "cold" ones, WIS said.
It also found that blocking a key protein called TIMP-1 in lab tests reduced scarring, suggesting it could be a future drug target, WIS said. ■
