A heart treatment that doesn't just slow the scarring — in mice, it reversed it

Atrial fibrillation, the most common heart-rhythm disorder, affects more than 10 million adults in the USA alone, and no current treatment stops the scarring of heart tissue that drives it. Researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Oxford blocked a tiny molecule called microRNA-31-5p that helps the scarring process along. In human heart cells from patients, the treatment calmed the scarring response; in mice, it prevented new scarring, shrank established scarring by about 30% while untreated hearts kept worsening, and cut the burden of abnormal rhythms. The study is published in Nature Cardiovascular Research.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation