Archive“Rotten eggs” therapy for hypertension
08 May 2008 www.kcl.ac.uk
Scientists at King’s, in collaboration with teams at the National University of Singapore and the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, have found that hydrogen sulphide (H2S - the smell of rotten eggs) could offer a potential treatment for hypertension and associated cardiovascular disease.
The team found a way to harness the positive effect of hydrogen sulphide for a therapy which could treat high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, according to research published in the science journal Circulation.
Philip Moore, Professor of Integrative Pharmacology in the Pharmaceutical Science Division at King’s comments: ‘The enzymes that make H2S in the body do so slowly. Therefore, this compound is a better mimic of the real life situation.
‘Since it appears not to be toxic to vascular cells, it opens up an entirely new potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of hypertension. It may also pave the way to a better understanding of the role of H2S in other diseases such as neurodegeneration, diabetes and cancer’.
High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) often causes no symptoms but increases the risk of developing conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Around a third of the adult population in the UK have been diagnosed with hypertension and it is most common in older people, those with a family history of the condition and in some ethnic groups.
Potential therapy
The research team had previously shown that H2S is produced naturally within the body, along with other gaseous molecules such as nitric oxide, and that a balance between these gases relates to good health, whereas an imbalance could indicate disease.
In the case of high blood pressure, a reduction in nitric oxide causes an increase in blood pressure, while H2S may well counteract this. H2S acts to decrease blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels.
In the past, H2S could not be used as a therapy for high blood pressure and associated cardiovascular disease because it could only be administered in large and potentially lethal doses, either using H2S gas from a cylinder or sodium hydrosulphide.
However, the research team from King’s and the Peninsula Medical School have now identified a new molecule which would allow H2S to be released into the body in a more regulated and more importantly, non-toxic manner.
The result is a slow-releasing H2S ‘donor’ compound with cardio-protective and anti-hypertensive activity that could form the basis of an effective therapy for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases.
Source: www.kcl.ac.uk
