Chemicals in fruit could minimize organ damage

From Medical Xpress:

Scientists have identified chemicals found in some everyday fruit that could protect vital organs from long-term damage following a heart attack or stroke, according to new research carried out in mice. The researchers now hope the chemicals will provide a starting point for developing new injectable drugs that could be used to prevent some of the long-term damage caused by heart attack and stroke.

During a heart attack or stroke, a clot can starve the heart or brain of blood and oxygen, causing irreversible damage. Further damage is caused when the clot is dislodged and blood rushes back into the heart or brain. Until now, it was unclear how the return of blood flow starts this damage.

In research published today in Nature, scientists led by teams at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mitochondrial Biology Unit, MRC Cancer Unit and the University of Cambridge, are the first to find that this damage is caused by a build-up of a chemical called succinate. Succinate occurs naturally in the body when sugar and fat are broken down to release the energy stored in food.

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