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(Philadelphia, PA) - Like a failing fuel pump that causes a loss of engine power in a car, a diseased heart can take a serious toll on the body s performance. For some patients, tasks like walking up a flight of stairs or walking across a room eventually turn into exhausting endeavors. This is because, over time, regardless of the underlying cause, heart damage typically progresses, owing to a constant barrage of oxidative stress and toxic lipids that alter heart cell energetics and, ultimately, the ability of the heart to function normally.
Oxidative stress occurs when harmful oxygen-containing molecules outnumber helpful antioxidants, leading to damaging reactions with proteins, DNA, and other cell components. Now, in two new studies, researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) show that in the heart, one molecule in particular, Kruppel-like factor (KLF)-5, single-handedly fuels both the generation of oxidizing molecules and the accumul
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IMAGE: Daniel J. Rubin, MD, MSc, FACE, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Chair of the Glycemic Control Taskforce at Temple University Hospital. view more
Credit: Temple University Health System
(Philadelphia, PA) - Each year in the United States, more than 1 million patients with diabetes make return trips to the hospital for diabetes-related illness, often being readmitted within 30 days of their initial hospitalization. The costs of these return visits add up, in terms of dollars and in terms of the toll on patient health that comes with prolonged or chronic illness and repeated hospitalization.