The heart attack could be unleashed due to an infection: plaques in the coronaries can hide aggregations of invisible and dangerous bacteria.
To trigger the myocardial infarction, that is, the death of a part of the fabric of the cardiac muscle following the obstruction of a coronary artery, it could also be an infection: according to a study published on Journal of the American Heart Associationin the plates that obstruct the arteries, dormant bacteria could hide, capable of awakening and making damage.
Cholesterol and plates
So far it was believed that to form the plaques that hinder the flow of blood in the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack were only low density lipoproteins (LDL, also known as “bad cholesterol”). These substances are in charge of transporting cholesterol synthesized by the liver to body cells, but when they are present in excessive quantities, they deposit on the walls of the arteries causing inspections and hardening. It is atherosclerosis, a condition that can lead to the formation of plates that hinder or block the blood rich in oxygen.
A perfect hiding place
Of an involvement of bacteria in the genesis of the heart attacks had been suspected for some time, but direct tests were missing. A group of scientists from Finnish and British universities has demonstrated the presence of the DNA of different bacteria of the oral cavity within the atherosclerotic plates of deceased patients or who had undergone “cleaning” interventions of the obstructed arteries.
When the researchers, to verify the discovery, exposed the plates to specific antibiotics for the bacteria identified, they realized that the microorganisms had formed particular aggregations called biofilm in the tissue of the artery. The atherosclerotic plates would seem to shield biofilm of bacteria for years, making them invisible to the immune system and antibiotics.
Inflammation and trombers
A viral infection or another stressful event for the body can reactivate the biofilm and cause a proliferation of bacteria: the body’s immune response can trigger an inflammation that breaks the plaque based on LDL cholesterol and promotes the formation of trombi, coagules that obstruct the vases and hinder the passage of the blood.
A vaccine against heart attack?
The discovery could suggest new therapies for the timely treatment of heart attacks, or open the doors to a suggestive possibility: that of reducing the risk of heart attack through vaccines, which keep the infectious agents from the arteries.
