Increasing cardiac vagal activity as a novel treatment for heart failure

In Collaboration with: Dr Julia Shanks

With support from the University of Auckland and the Health Research Council NZ

Duration: 2024 - 2027

Purpose:
People living with heart failure have severely impaired quality of life because even day-to-day menial activities leave them breathless and incapacitated. Currently, there is only one treatment option for half of all heart failure patients who have diastolic dysfunction. We have discovered a novel role for the cardiac vagus in modulating blood flow to the heart during exercise. We will determine if we can target these vagal nerves to improve heart function in this disease and how the only currently available treatment impacts these nerves. We have established a clinically relevant preclinical model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and have shown that this replicates many of the clinical features. This clinically relevant research will represent a significant step towards developing new treatments urgently needed to improve the quality of life in these patients.