Bacterial Infections Play a Crucial Role in Heart Attacks and May Be Prevented Through Vaccination
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S., regardless of racial background or sex. A condition that has mostly been described as a non-communicable disease, meaning it’s not caused by transmitting pathogenic microorganisms, like viruses or bacteria, turns out to have more to do with bacteria than we thought.
A collaboration between scientists from the University of Oxford, Tampere and Oulu Universities, and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare uncovered how a bacterial infection might trigger heart attacks. The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, described how bacterial biofilms were present in samples of atherosclerotic plaques, challenging the previous understanding of how coronary artery disease, which potentially leads to heart attacks, emerges.
A discovery like this can expand diagnostic strategies, treatment options, and even explore prevention methods through vaccination.
Understanding Heart Attacks
A heart attack is often the result of a decades-long disease of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle cells with oxygen and nutrients. More precisely, when arteries narrow or completely block due to ongoing atherosclerosis (the buildup of plaques consisting of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in the artery walls) the heart cannot function properly or can even stop altogether.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), several risk factors can lead to the development of coronary artery disease (CAD):
- High blood pressure
- High blood cholesterol
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Family history of CAD
- Lifestyle factors (lack of physical activity or smoking)
All known risk factors combine physiological, environmental, genetic, and behavioral components, but rarely mention bacterial involvement, and if so, mostly through indirect pathways. However, bacterial infections might play a bigger role in plaque formation than previously believed.
Read More: Repairing the Damage After a Heart Attack
Bacteria Live Inside Coronary Plaques
When the researchers dissected coronary plaques from 121 individuals who had died from sudden cardiac arrest and 96 surgical patients, using a wide range of advanced methodologies, they found bacterial biofilm structures within the plaques.
What’s more, they described how some bacteria stay dormant within the impenetrable biofilm, protected from the host’s immune system and antibiotics, waiting until an external trigger wakes them up. Upon activation and proliferation, the body’s immune system responds with inflammation, which, however, can trigger the rupture of the plaque, leading to dangerous blood clot formation and, in the worst case, a heart attack.
Interestingly, analyzing the bacteria’s DNA revealed that they most likely originated from the mouth, lungs, gut, and skin. This could indicate chronic inflammation caused by microorganisms that normally live in symbiosis with us under healthy circumstances.
A Vaccine to Prevent Heart Attacks
“Bacterial involvement in coronary artery disease has long been suspected, but direct and convincing evidence has been lacking. Our study demonstrated the presence of genetic material – DNA – from several oral bacteria inside atherosclerotic plaques,” explained study first author Pekka Karhunen in a press release.
Discoveries like this could pave the way for the development of new diagnostic methods and therapeutic strategies for heart attacks. Because of the microbial involvement, these observations could advance the possibility of preventing CAD and heart attacks through vaccination.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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