- Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand report that in male rats with heart failure, the carotid body (an oxygen-sensing organ) produced sudden bursts of nerve activity that were linked to breathing problems.
- They also found that the P2X3 receptor played a role in producing these bursts of nerve activity.
- When researchers blocked the receptor using a drug, the bursts of nerve activity stopped and breathing and heart function improved.
Heart failure is a condition in which the heart’s muscle gets injured from something like a heart attack or high blood pressure and gradually loses its ability to pump enough blood to supply the body’s needs.
This leads to retention of extra fluid in the body, or “congestion.”
According to the Heart Failure Society of America, heart failure affects more than 6 million people in the United States over the age of 20. It also accounts for more than 8% of all heart disease deaths in the country.
Although there is currently no cure for heart failure, research has contributed to a better understanding of the condition.
One of these peripheral chemoreceptors is the
Julian F.R. Paton, PhD, a professor of translational physiology at the University of Auckland (Waipapa Taumata Rau), New Zealand, explained to Medical News Today that these sympathetic nerve signals “are good when you need to accelerate your heart rate and escape from a threatening…
Read the full article here