Currently patients with RA are particularly susceptible to a type of cardiac deficiency termed diastolic dysfunction, which may lead to heart failure, resulting in a higher mortality rate amongst this patient group.

The new study, published in PNAS, addresses this unmet clinical need by developing an experimental model of cardiomyopathy in inflammatory arthritis.

After several attempts the team of researchers from Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute (WHRI) successfully identified the right model by characterizing experimental animals with arthritis. The animals developed cardiac diastolic dysfunction, recapitulating the symptoms presented by RA patients. Diastolic dysfunction means the heart is able to contract as normal but unable to dilate properly, ultimately leading to heart failure over time.

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