Pneumonia Bacterium Scars Heart Muscles: Study

 A study finds pneumonia bacterium can cause heart failure.

Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio discovered in their study on mice that the bacteria, streptococcus pneumonia cause minutes lesions on heart muscles leading to heart failure and death. The experts observed the bacterial spread in mice, rhesus macaque and autopsy sample of human heart tissues and identified pathways through which pneumonia infects the organ. The bacteria carried through blood enter the heart chamber and the myocardium where it causes most of the damage and scarring.  It generally affects endothelial cells in heart's blood vessels and eventually leads to decline in cardiac functioning.

However, the authors are unsure if these lesions lead to death in humans or if the damages are untreatable and permanent in those who have survived a massive heart infection. They believe in investigating further on non-human primates to conclude if the condition would be fatal for humans, reports the Economic Times.

The team claims to have a vaccine that restricts the infection spread inside the heart and also inhibits the toxins that damage heart muscle cells called cardiomyocytes. These vaccines were tested on animals and found to be effective in preventing formation of cardiac lesions.

"Fortunately, we have a candidate vaccine that can protect against this," said Carlos Orihuela, study author and associate professor of microbiology and immunology UT Health Science Center San Antonio in a news release.

The study was funded by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health. More information is available online in the journal PLoS Pathogen.