Doctors have just discovered a bacterial pneumonia that can raise the risk of heart problems, but there is a new research that points out the reason. The bacteria may essentially invade & kill the heart cells, thus elevating the probabilities of heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms & heart attacks too in people according to the report.

How the research goes….

In a mouse, monkey & in a human heart tissue, the researchers have found out that there is a precise proof of a heart damage brought about by the bacteria and they have tried a vaccine that may control an attack. However, they have also discovered that there is an antibiotic that is presently being used for the treatment of pneumonia and might also make it easier and simpler for the bacterial to cause damages to the heart. If people are brought to the hospital for pneumonia, around 20% of them have something in their hearts; those are more likely to end up dying according to the researcher.

Knowing why they are going through such cases is such a big thing for them. They were able to show how and why that occurs and how it can be prevented. According to the team of Orihuela, the high levels of troponin, which is an indicator of the heart injury in the blood of the mouse with bacterial pneumonia, however, the mouse had abnormal heart rhythms though. If the investigators checked the hearts of the mouse, they have found out that the mouse have little scars known as microlesions, which is an indicator of a heart damage.

More of the research and microlesions

In the lesions, the group has found out that the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae; thrive in the hearts of the mouse. They were able to see as well that the heart muscles of the mouse nearby the lesions are actually dying. The researchers have just said that the pneumolysin, which is a poison from a bacterium, is the one responsible for killing the cells of the heart. To add up to that, a molecule known as CbpA was required to enable the bacteria to penetrate to the heart. There is a possible vaccine, but its coverage is not yet clear though. The researchers must still work it out.

The researchers have tried to experiment the vaccine that was composed of CbpA with a combination of a non-toxic kind of pneumolysin. In the mouse, it made their antibodies that can prevent the bacteria from causing damages to the heart. The researchers looked at the tissues of the heart from the monkey that was treated with antibodies to prevent the bacteria from damaging the heart.  The researchers also take into consideration the heart tissue of the money that has been treated with the antibiotics, but still died from pneumonia. They have discovered microlesions, but there are not traces of the bacteria though.