{"id":447,"date":"2015-10-15T13:12:38","date_gmt":"2015-10-15T17:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/?p=447"},"modified":"2026-06-10T21:28:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T01:28:33","slug":"do-hearts-fail-because-theyre-hooked-on-blood-sugar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/do-hearts-fail-because-theyre-hooked-on-blood-sugar\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Hearts Fail Because They\u2019re Hooked on Blood Sugar?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Could your heart get hooked on blood sugar? Researchers at the University of Virginia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.med.virginia.edu\/\"><strong>School of Medicine<\/strong><\/a> think so, and they will determine if blocking that addiction could prevent enlargement of the heart that can lead to deadly heart failure.<\/p>\n<p>The project, combining pioneering metabolic science with cutting-edge imaging, has been backed with a four-year grant totaling $1.9 million from the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.<\/p>\n<p>The heart normally sustains itself on fatty acids. But when under stress, such as from high blood pressure, it turns to glucose \u2013 blood sugar \u2013 for easy energy. This is normal and healthy, but the UVA researchers think it may become dangerous if the heart begins to gorge on glucose long-term.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlucose is good for the heart, but too much glucose is not good,\u201d explained lead researcher Bijoy Kundu of the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology\/\" target=\"_blank\">Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cWe need the right balance between glucose and fatty acids to maintain function [of the heart].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Preliminary data from human studies suggests there are metabolic changes in glucose metabolism prior to the development of cardiac hypertrophy, a thickening and stiffening of the heart muscle, Kundu noted. This enlargement of the heart impedes its ability to function and pump blood efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe heart is a metabolic omnivore. It uses whatever fuel it needs at the right time. But at a certain point, this adaptive process can become maladaptive,\u201d Kundu said. \u201cWe hypothesize that this maladaptive response \u2013 this initial beneficial response going wrong \u2013 is responsible for contractile dysfunction of the heart, which \u2026 eventually leads to heart failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kundu and his team plan to use cutting-edge nuclear imaging techniques they have developed to watch these metabolic changes unfold. The goal is to determine when the heart\u2019s reliance on glucose goes from good to bad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hypothesis is, metabolic remodeling precedes cardiac dysfunction, and if you can identify a therapeutic window you can do an intervention and prevent cardiac dysfunction, the subsequent structural remodeling and prevent heart failure,\u201d said Kundu, a member of UVA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cvrc.virginia.edu\/\"><strong>Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers also will test to see if the diabetes drug metformin, which suppresses glucose production by the liver, can prevent the damaging effects of glucose on the heart in rats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe it will target glucose metabolism and it will prevent impairments in contractile function,\u201d Kundu said.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, Kundu hopes his work will determine the metabolic cause of cardiac hypertrophy, determine when it can best be averted and provide the drug that could stop it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you identify all these metabolic changes early on,\u201d he said, \u201cwe can do a therapeutic intervention and prevent these downstream effects. Essentially, we could prevent cardiac hypertrophy and subsequent heart failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The NIH grant is No. 1R01HL123627-01A1.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.virginia.edu\/content\/do-hearts-fail-because-they-re-hooked-blood-sugar\" target=\"_blank\">UVAToday<\/a> | October 12, 2015 | Josh Barney<br \/>\n<em>Reprinted with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could your heart get hooked on blood sugar? Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine think so, and they will determine if blocking that addiction could prevent enlargement of the heart that can lead to deadly heart failure. The project, combining pioneering metabolic science with cutting-edge imaging, has been backed with a four-year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-news","tag-intranet"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do Hearts Fail Because They\u2019re Hooked on Blood Sugar? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/med.virginia.edu\/radiology-research\/do-hearts-fail-because-theyre-hooked-on-blood-sugar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do Hearts Fail Because They\u2019re Hooked on Blood Sugar? - Radiology and Medical Imaging Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Could your heart get hooked on blood sugar? Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine think so, and they will determine if blocking that addiction could prevent enlargement of the heart that can lead to deadly heart failure. 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