A bioactive compound (chlorogenic acid), which is found in higher concentrations in coffee, for example, can improve heart function and counteract the death of certain heart muscle cells. Chlorogenic acid appears to be a promising active ingredient candidate for the treatment of heart failure.
In a recent study, a Chinese research team examined the effect of chlorogenic acid on various parameters of cardiac function using a mouse model of heart failure. In addition, the effect on cardiomyocytes (certain heart muscle cells) was checked in cell experiments. The promising results are published in the “Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences”.
Heart failure requires treatment
With heart failure (heart failure), the heart is no longer able to pump enough blood through our body. This can have different reasons, with coronary heart disease being a common cause, for example.
In the long term, there is a risk of serious health consequences, including sudden cardiac arrest, which is why urgent treatment should be sought. However, this can sometimes be difficult and effective active ingredients to improve heart function are still urgently sought.
Can chlorogenic acid help?
The researchers have now first examined in mice whether the chlorogenic acid found in coffee, tea and various other plants could potentially help treat heart failure.
The team evaluated the effect of chlorogenic acid on heart function using a whole range of indicators such as the so-called end-systolic volume or the end-diastolic volume.
The researchers also used cell experiments to examine the effect of different chlorogenic acid concentrations on ferroptosis (a form of programmed cell death) of cardiomyocytes.
Improved heart function
In the mice, chlorogenic acid led to significant improvements in all indicators of heart function and in the cell experiments, the bioactive compound counteracted ferroptosis in cardiomyocytes, the researchers report.
Chlorogenic acid has the potential to improve cardiac function and reduce lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species levels in cardiomyocytes via the so-called SLC7A11/GPX4 signaling pathway.
The herbal compound therefore appears to be a promising candidate for the treatment of heart failure and its effectiveness should now be tested in further studies. (fp)
