A new marker in the human blood provides better control of treatment for atrial fibrillation.
Atrial fibrillation leads to a persistent irregular - often accelerated - heartbeat. While the condition is not life-threatening, if left untreated it can lead to serious complications such as stroke or heart failure. It is caused by areas of the heart that hinder the normal conduction of electrical impulses so that the atrium no longer contracts rhythmically," explains Rüdiger Lange from the German Heart Center Munich. Ablation is a procedure in which specific regions of the atrium are destroyed by applying heat or extreme cold to reroute the paths of electrical conduction and correct the abnormality. Two years ago, Markus Krane at the DHM and Matthias Mann of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry compiled an Atlas of the Heart. In the process, they discovered the protein myosin binding protein H-like (MYBPHL), which exists in two forms and exhibits an important characteristic: in humans, one of the forms, isoform 2, occurs only in the atria of the heart. Most other proteins in the heart, by contrast, are just as likely to occur in other cardiac regions as well.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
