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Scientists might have found holy grail medicine for hearts in python organ
While the idea of a magical pill that infuses your heart with health might sound like science fiction, scientists are actually working toward this goal using python hearts.
Modern medicine really is miraculous, so much so that we are now able to treat debilitating conditions like depression with a handy pill. Though more work is still needed to cure prevalent health conditions like cancer and Alzheimer’s, recent discoveries like the method to remove plastic from water have inspired hope for future scientific endeavors.
Python hearts swell by 25% after eating
Much like the recent discovery that cone snail venom could be used to treat diabetes, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have returned to the animal kingdom for medical innovation.
After months and months of starvation, pythons consume a meal larger than their body weight to steal back all those lost nutrients. Within 24 hours, its heart swells by 25%, its cardiac tissue becomes more pliable, and the organ begins to squeeze thereby doubling its pulse. To combat this, a specific set of genes is released that boosts the reptile’s metabolism by 40 times.
By the end of the second week, the snake’s heart is back to normal and actually performing more efficiently.
While it might sound like a story straight from the pages of a Star Wars book, scientists published a paper on the phenomenon, and its human applications, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week.
Pythons can go months or even a year in the wild without eating and then consume something greater than their own body mass, yet nothing bad happens to them, said Leslie Leinwand, senior author. We believe they possess mechanisms that protect their hearts from things that would be harmful to humans. This study goes a long way toward mapping out what those are.
Considering heart disease is the number one killer in America, such research could revolutionize treatment options.
Python heart’s become sports cars overnight
Throughout their landmark study, Leslie and her team identified that the dramatic changes in a python’s heart after eating would be fatal to humans. So how do they survive?
Myofibrils, bundles of cardiac muscle, become softer after eating whilst also contracting with 50% more force. This turns python hearts into a sportscar of sorts, able to more efficiently work despite the increased load.
Researchers further noticed profound epigenetic differences between the snakes that were eating and those that were fasting. This seemingly suggests that eating fundamentally changes the snake’s genetic makeup, allowing them to burn fat instead of sugar.
We found that the python heart is basically able to radically remodel itself, becoming much less stiff and much more energy efficient, in just 24 hours. If we can map out how the python does this and harness it to use therapeutically in people it would be extraordinary, Leslie said.
Though the potential applications in cardiology are impressive enough, even able to treat conditions like Cardiac fibrosis, the scientists said it could also factor into treatments for the lungs and liver.
