© JKU
Taking action quickly can help to save lives. Researchers at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz are now developing an injection with which emergency physicians can save about 20 percent of the patient’s heart muscle from dying off. The new drug has already been successfully tested in the laboratory.
In the case of a heart attack, part of the heart is cut off from the oxygen supply. The surrounding heart tissue is not fully supplied with ultimately first ties after some time. This issue can be saved thanks to the new development of Prof. David Bernhard, Head of the Center for Medical Research at Johannes Kepler University of Linz. He developed a substance named 5`-Methoxyleoligin. The special property of this substance is that it not only protects the insufficiently supplied heart issue from the effects of the heart attack but can also be administered intravenously. Up until now treatment of the heart could first take place in a hospital within the context of a surgical procedure. Methoxyleoligin is originally derived from the roots of the edelweiss but can be synthetically produced in the meantime. All in all, experts from six Austrian universities worked on the project for several years under the leadership of the University of Linz.
