Heart failure is a highly lethal disease, affecting more than 6 million adults in the United States, with a five year mortality rate of 50% in treated patients.  Heart transplantation is the only currently effective treatment for heart failure and is limited by the availability of organ donors.  Thus, there is an urgent need for a therapeutic that prevents the remodeling triggered by myocardial injury that leads to heart failure.

Researchers in the Drexel College of Medicine are developing a new class of drugs to treat heart failure based on modulation of the gasotransmitter hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which activates multiple protective pathways simultaneously.  The therapeutic strategy targets sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQOR), an enzyme that catalyzes the first irreversible step in H2S metabolism.  The scientific team has identified a novel and highly selective inhibitor of SQOR. In a mouse model of heart failure (transverse aortic constriction,) treatment of with the inhibitor improves survival and mitigates pressure-induced cardiomegaly, pulmonary congestion, and dilatation of the left ventricle. The inhibitor preserves cardiac function, by impeding left ventricle hypertrophy, thus preventing the development of cardiac fibrosis.