Pomegranate and heart health: natural compound shows promising results

Urolithin A, a compound that gut bacteria can produce after eating pomegranate, improved heart function by 80% in mice with heart failure, researchers have reported. They said clinical trials in humans are needed to assess whether the approach benefits patients.

According to a statement from King's College London, scientists concluded that urolithin A can activate a protein that plays an important role in relaxing the heart between beats. The study was published in the journal Science Advances with support from the British Heart Foundation and was based on experiments in mice and human heart tissue created from stem cells in the laboratory.

The researchers focused on a condition known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. In this condition, the heart continues to pump blood with relatively good efficiency but becomes stiffer and has difficulty relaxing and filling with blood.

In mice with this condition, the compound reduced fibrosis of heart tissue and helped the heart relax, lowering internal pressure. According to the university, the improvement in heart function reached 80% compared with mice that did not receive the treatment.

Urolithin A also helped laboratory samples of human heart tissue contract and relax faster. According to the researchers, this may be linked to activation of the protein PKGIα, which is involved in regulating arterial pressure and relaxing the heart.

Cardiovascular researcher and lead author Joseph Burgoyne said the results open the possibility of developing new treatments to improve patients' condition and quality of life.

"Current evidence is insufficient to recommend pomegranate consumption for treating heart failure," said Joseph Burgoyne, noting that dietary approaches that stimulate production of the compound may help ease the condition, but the question requires further research.

James Leiper, director of research at the British Heart Foundation, stressed that the benefit has so far been recorded in animals and engineered human tissues, and that clinical trials are needed to determine the approach's effectiveness in patients.

He noted that a healthy, balanced diet remains one of the best ways to care for the heart and that eating fruits and vegetables is associated with better health. At the same time, he said, no single product on its own can prevent or cure heart disease.

Source: skynewsarabia.com