Researchers awarded $1.4M to study heart transplants in children
In the latest award round for a joint research initiative between the American Heart Association (AHA) and Enduring Hearts, scientific research teams in California and Colorado each received $700,000 to study pediatric heart transplant outcomes.
“This cutting-edge research is crucial to improving the lives of children who have been given a new chance at life through the innovation of heart transplantation,” AHA President Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, MD, ScM, said in a statement.
At Stanford University, the California team—led by Karim Sallam, MD and Seth Hollander, MD—will examine how immunosuppressants affect the heart muscle when prescribed to pediatric heart transplant patients.
Using technology to produce small heart tissue clusters in the laboratory, the researchers will apply common immunosuppressants to the clusters and look for potentially harmful changes such as scar tissue buildup or cellular changes.
Information collected through the study may be able to help researchers determine whether certain drugs are better or worse at preventing damage to the transplant graft, as this damage is one of the most common reasons for transplant death. The results may also be able to offer actionable insights for potential new medications to prevent such damage.
At Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, the Colorado team—led by Stephanie Nakano, MD, Jordan Abbott, MD, and Laurent Gapin, PhD—will attempt to determine the amount of medication that leads to the best outcomes for children who undergo heart transplants.
Immunosuppressant medications are necessary to prevent a person’s immune system from attacking the transplanted heart, but the optimal amounts are unclear and may differ for each child. Oversupression can result in dangerous infections, while undersuppression can result in damage to the transplanted heart.
To better key in on the right amount of medication, the Colorado team will study a recently identified population of immune cells known as MAIT cells. Researchers will explore whether these cells can be used as a sensor to dial in on the right amount of medication for each child. If successful, the study could protect the lives of children with heart transplants while reducing medication-related side effects.
Combined, the two studies can offer important takeaways on which medicines work best for children that undergo heart transplants, and in what quantities. Currently, more than 1 in 4 pediatric heart transplants will fail within five years, largely due to some type of organ rejection, the AHA statement noted.
“We are excited about the immediate impact the findings from these projects can potentially make in real-world treatment for many of our most vulnerable survivors of heart disease,” Lloyd-Jones said.
Each team will conduct their research over a three-year period beginning July 1, 2022. The grant announcement coincides with the dates of National Pediatric Transplant Week, April 24-30, 2022.