THURSDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A drug designed to lessen muscle damage from a heart attack has passed initial safety tests in humans.

The drug, known as KAI-9803, blocks the activity of an enzyme called delta protein kinase C that triggers cell and tissue death in the aftermath of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PCI is a set of procedures including balloon angioplasty and stent placement that clear and prop open clogged coronary blood vessels that lead to a heart attack.

Although the trial was not designed to demonstrate the efficacy of KAI-9803, researchers said early data suggest it appears to be a promising compound. Results of the study, done at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, are available online and are expected to be published in the Feb. 19 issue of Circulation.

Earlier studies in animals showed that KAI-9803 lessened damage to the heart muscle and quickly restored its pumping function.

"We may not be able to intervene in the first stage of a heart attack, but we think there may be ways to limit damage caused by reperfusion injury," lead investigator Dr. Matthew Roe, a cardiologist at Duke, said in a prepared statement.

The heart suffers damage at two major points in a heart attack, Roe said: first, when a blockage in a coronary artery prevents blood and oxygen from getting to the heart, and then again when the patient undergoes PCI and normal blood flow is restored through reperfusion.

Researchers randomized 154 patients who had suffered heart attacks and were eligible for PCI into either one of four dosing levels of KAI-9803 or a placebo. Patients underwent PCI with physicians injecting the drug directly into their coronary blood vessels during the procedure.

"We designed the trial to find out if KAI-9803 is safe for humans, and we accomplished that goal; we did not see any serious side effects," Roe said. "We also found, however, many promising signs of beneficial drug activity such as lessened damage to the heart muscle and improvement in electrical conductivity in the heart that corresponded to restoration of blood flow to the heart muscle. As a result, we feel this drug has the potential to be helpful in reducing the impact of a heart attack in humans."

More information

To learn more about heart attack warning signs and prevention, visit the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

TUESDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- A new study showing that high levels of triglycerides were strong predictors of cardiac trouble strengthens the case for including measurement of the blood fats in prevention programs.

"Triglycerides traditionally have been viewed as second-class citizens," said Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and lead author of the report in the Feb. 12 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.. "LDL cholesterol has always taken center stage. We know that LDL is intimately involved in bringing cholesterol to scavenger cells, which deposit them to form plaques in the arteries. This study shows that triglycerides in and of themselves are also lipids to blame."

The original study was designed to test the effectiveness of two LDL-lowering statins, Pravachol and Lipitor, in reducing recurring coronary disease after a heart attack. The new study went over the data on the 4,162 participants in the trial, looking at the association between triglyceride levels and the incidence of heart problems and death.

"The patients who had heart attacks came back after 30 days," said Miller. "We measured LDL levels and triglyceride levels and followed them over the next two years, evaluating for the occurrence of new events and death. If a patient had triglyceride levels below 150 [milligrams per deciliter], there was a 27 percent lower risk of having a new event over time. After multiple adjustments, for such things as age, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, the risk reduction was 20 percent."

Unlike LDL cholesterol, for which there is a recommended blood level, 70 or below, there is no recommended blood triglyceride level, Miller said, but 150 milligrams per deciliter or below is "considered as desirable."

When the participants were divided into four groups on the basis of both LDL and triglyceride levels, those in the group with under 150 for triglycerides and under 70 for LDL did the best, with a 28 percent lower risk than those in the group with the highest readings for both LDL and triglycerides, he said.

The results obviously need verification, Miller said. "At the present time, we don't have a recommendation for triglyceride lowering, so the next logical step is a study to determine whether lowering triglycerides and LDL reduces risk more than lowering LDL alone," he said. Two such studies are in progress, Miller noted.

Previous research has already pointed toward such a connection: A study that appeared in Neurology last December found a link between triglycerides and stroke risk, while research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last July showed that when high triglyceride levels showed up in nonfasting cholesterol tests, there was an increased risk for a future heart attack.

Dr. Leslie Cho, an interventional cardiologist who is director of the Women's Cardiovascular Center of the Cleveland Clinic, noted that the new report "is not a huge surprise."

"The unique thing about this study is that even if you control bad LDL cholesterol to less than 70, you still need to look at triglycerides," Cho said.

The problem with triglycerides is that "they are the most unstable fats in the body," so that at least two readings are needed to get an accurate measure of blood levels, she explained.

Meanwhile, Miller said, "I am proactive about both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides." Several measures can be taken to lower triglyceride levels -- many of them already recommended on general principles for reduction of coronary risk.

One is to eat a Mediterranean diet, rich in fish. Omega-3 fatty acids can lower triglyceride levels, as can niacin, and exercise has a beneficial effect, Miller said. Statins also have some triglyceride-lowering effect, he noted.

"If you can effectively get both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides down, you are going to do better," Miller said.

More information

You can learn what triglycerides are and why they matter from the American Heart Association  .

MONDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Few people with high blood pressure follow recommended dietary guidelines that help control the disease, a new study says.

In fact, people with hypertension actually appear to be eating worse than before the government-approved guidelines were introduced, according to the report published in the Feb. 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study said young people, blacks and the obese fared the worst in their dietary habits.

A diet high in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products has been shown to help significantly lower blood pressure, according to background information in the article. This Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) method, first published in 1997, complements other lifestyle changes, such as reducing sodium and losing weight, and can also help lower cholesterol levels, previous studies have shown.

The DASH diet is recommended by the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection and Treatment of High Blood Pressure for all patients with hypertension.

The study analyzed dietary, health and personal data of adults collected in surveys done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2004. Using the DASH guidelines, researchers identified goals for eight target nutrients and calculated scores ranging from zero to nine for individuals with and without hypertension from the surveys; those who scored a 4.5 or higher were considered to be following the diet.

Dr. Philip B. Mellen, of the Hattiesburg Clinic in Hattiesburg, Miss., and his colleagues found that among individuals surveyed from 1999 to 2004, 28 percent had been diagnosed with hypertension. These individuals had an average DASH score of 2.92 (compared with 3.12 among those without high blood pressure), and only 19.4 percent followed the diet. Compared with those surveyed in 1988 to 1994, 7.3 percent fewer individuals with hypertension followed the DASH diet, reflecting fewer patients who consumed target levels of total fat, fiber and magnesium.

The findings suggest that the diet of Americans with hypertension has not been greatly influenced by the recommendations emerging from the DASH trial and instead reflect secular trends in the dietary patterns of the overall population, the authors wrote. Moreover, the DASH score was lower in subgroups likely to receive the greatest benefit from the DASH diet -- blacks and obese individuals.

More information

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about high blood pressure and how to control it.

FRIDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Heart patients who are resistant to aspirin are four times more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or to die, a new Canadian study says.

People who are aspirin-resistant have platelets -- the cells in blood responsible for clotting -- that aren't affected in the same way as platelets in people who respond to aspirin.

Publishing in the Jan. 18 online edition of the British Medical Journal, researchers at McMaster University Health Sciences Centre in Hamilton reviewed 20 studies that included 2,930 people with cardiovascular disease who'd been prescribed aspirin to prevent formation of blood clots. About 28 percent of the patients in the studies were aspirin-resistant.

The analysis revealed that 39 percent of aspirin-resistant patients suffered some sort of cardiovascular event, compared to 16 percent of other patients.

The researchers also found that other blood-thinning drugs, such as Clopidogrel or Tirofiban, did not provide any benefit to aspirin-resistant patients.

Currently, there is no agreed-upon method for identifying aspirin-resistant patients, and there is ongoing debate about why a person may be aspirin-resistant in the first place.

The authors of this latest study said more research is needed to figure out the best way to identify aspirin-resistant patients.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about the use of aspirin to reduce stroke and heart attack risk.