A magic pill that makes bad artery gunk safer
A cyclic azapeptide ligand of the scavenger receptor CD36/SR-B2 reduces the atherosclerotic lesion progression and enhances plaque stability in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
MPE-298 reduced plaque-destabilizing enzymes (Mmp14 and Plau) by 44–56% without increasing collagen—the fibrous cap didn’t get thicker.
Doctors have long believed thicker fibrous caps = safer plaques. But here, plaques became more stable without that change, meaning other mechanisms—like less cell death and inflammation—are doing the heavy lifting.
Practical Takeaways
If you have high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease, ask your doctor if CD36-targeting therapies are in clinical trials—this could be the next wave of heart drugs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
MPE-298 reduced plaque-destabilizing enzymes (Mmp14 and Plau) by 44–56% without increasing collagen—the fibrous cap didn’t get thicker.
Doctors have long believed thicker fibrous caps = safer plaques. But here, plaques became more stable without that change, meaning other mechanisms—like less cell death and inflammation—are doing the heavy lifting.
Practical Takeaways
If you have high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease, ask your doctor if CD36-targeting therapies are in clinical trials—this could be the next wave of heart drugs.
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in pharmacology
Year
2023
Authors
Gauvin J, Frégeau G, Elimam H, Ménard L, Huynh D, Lê C, Ahsanullah A, Lubell WD, Ong H, Marleau S
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Claims (10)
The drug-treated mice had almost half as many dying cells in their artery plaques, which could mean their plaques are less damaged and more stable.
Giving a special peptide drug daily to mice with clogged arteries helped reduce the size of the blockages by about one-third, compared to mice that didn’t get the drug.
Atherosclerotic plaque buildup in arterial walls is a common pathological mechanism underlying both myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.
Mice treated with the drug had much smaller dead-cell areas in their artery plaques—almost half as big—which might mean their plaques are less likely to break open.
The drug didn’t make the fibrous cap around the plaque thicker, so its protective effect must come from other changes, like less cell death or inflammation.