Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have been awarded $3 million by the U.S. Department of Defense to evaluate the efficacy of propranolol in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD)-related cardiac disease.
Propranolol is a beta blocker typically used for heart problems, migraines, and anxiety. The medication is a mixture of S-propranolol and R-propranolol, the former demonstrating greater beta blocker activity.
The team, led by Ankit A. Desai, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Krannert Cardiovascular Research Center, believes inflammation plays a key role in the cardiomyopathy and heart damage that leads some patients to develop ventricular tachycardia. Accordingly, the team seeks to understand the impact of R-propranolol in particular.
Bum-Rak Choi, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, will be collaborating with Dr. Desai on the investigation, particularly on data related to the development of fatal arrhythmias in SCD.
Before establishing a clinical trial to evaluate the drug, Dr. Desai and colleagues will evaluate for potential toxicity.
“Evaluating a therapeutic that has already been consumed by millions for other diseases could help accelerate the potential use in patients with sickle cell more quickly,” Dr. Desai said. “This grant will allow us to study heart injury as well as rhythm disturbance impact in preclinical models of SCD. The study funds a disease that is underrecognized and underrepresented and supports a broader goal of closing health care gaps.”
Source: Indiana University School of Medicine, January 3, 2024.
