Aetiology Of Congenital Heart Disease Explained

Main Category: Heart Disease
Article Date: 08 Feb 2005 - 16:00 PST

Current ratings for:
'Aetiology Of Congenital Heart Disease Explained'

Patient / Public:5 stars

5 (1 votes)

Healthcare Prof:not yet rated


This serious form of congenital heart disease, known as AV heart block, develops when a certain type of antibody is transferred from the mother to the foetus during pregnancy. The antibodies are targeted against endogenous proteins and cause the inflammation and calcification of the foetal cardiac conduction system. One in three of such cases are fatal to the foetus, and approximately 70 per cent of the babies born alive require life-long pacemaker treatment.

The mothers normally have a rheumatic disease, such as Sj�gren's syndrome or SLE. In virtually all cases of congenital heart block, the mother produces antibodies against the Ro and La autoantigens, but in only 2-5 per cent of pregnancies amongst Ro and La positive women does this heart condition arise.

This study has identified the specific antibody that causes the damage, and explained its mechanism of action. The antibody targets a specific part of the Ro protein known as p200. The study shows that the level of p200 antibodies in the mother correlates with the degree of damage to the heart. The results have been further confirmed in studies on rats and in cell cultures. Cultivated heart cells, cardiomyocytes, were seriously affected in their calcium balance when exposed to specific p200 antibodies. The cells were rendered unable to accumulate calcium, which ultimately led to cell death, apoptosis.

Knowledge of how this congenital heart condition arises will go a long way towards helping scientists develop better screening, risk assessment and treatment techniques. This is particularly important as early intervention has proved to restrict the extent of the damage, thus preventing pacemaker dependence or foetal death.

"We believe that the antibody we've identified can be used as a marker for identifying the mothers who are at a high risk of developing this complication during pregnancy," says associate professor Marie Wahren-Herlenius. "We're now working together with Karolinska University Hospital on designing a suitable method for this."

Publication:

Ro/SSA autoantibodies directed bind cardiomyocytes, disturb calcium homeostasis and mediate congenital heart block Salomonsson S, Sonesson S-E, Ottosson L, Muhallab S, Olsson T, Sunnerhagen M, Kuchroo VK, Thor�n P, Herlenius E, Wahren-Herlenius M. Journal of Experimental Medicine (2005) 201: 11-17.

For more information, please contact:
Associate professor Marie Wahren-Herlenius, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, phone +46 8 5177 6746 or e-mail marie.wahren@cmm.ki.se

Marie Wahren-Herlenius - marie.wahren@cmm.ki.se
Swedish Research Council

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
Visit our heart disease section for the latest news on this subject.
There are no references listed for this article.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
Marie Wahren-Herlenius. "Aetiology Of Congenital Heart Disease Explained." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 8 Feb. 2005. Web.
25 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/19740.php>

APA
Marie Wahren-Herlenius. (2005, February 8). "Aetiology Of Congenital Heart Disease Explained." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/19740.php.

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.



Add Your Opinion On This Article

'Aetiology Of Congenital Heart Disease Explained'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Your Name:*
E-mail Address:*
Your Opinion Title:*
Opinion:*
This is to help prevent SPAM submissions. Please enter the words exactly as they appear, including capital letters and punctuation.*

* Fields marked with a * need to be filled in before you hit the submit button.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.


Heart Disease

What is Atrial Fibrillation?

The human heart has two upper chambers and two lower chambers. The upper chambers are called the left atrium and the right atrium - the plural of atrium is atria. The two lower chambers are the the left ventricle and the right ventricle. Read more...

Most Popular Articles



Follow Our Heart Disease News On Twitter

Follow Us On Twitter
Get the latest news for this category delivered straight to your Twitter account. Simply visit our Heart Disease Twitter account and select the 'follow' option.



View list of all 'What Is...' articles »