08 October 2025
Media release
Australian researchers have discovered that an anti-inflammatory drug already being used to treat rheumatoid arthritis could dramatically improve recovery from heart attacks.
Even though most patients will survive their first heart attack thanks to current treatment approaches, many still sustain severe and irreversible heart damage. Sadly, this limits their quality of life and reduces their survival time. Around twenty-five per cent will die within three years with fourteen per cent dying within a year. After a heart attack, inflammation is a critical source of heart damage and heart failure.
Researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have now discovered in preclinical mouse models that the anti-inflammatory drug abatacept — commonly used to treat autoimmune disease — could address this long-standing problem.
Abatacept prevents the activation of T cells, a powerful type of white blood cell that acts like a general with the ability to coordinate the entire immune system. T cells also develop a specialised ‘memory’ that allows them to very quickly kill infected, dying and alien cells. Normally, this enables them to provide long-lasting protection from infections and cancer. However, growing evidence shows that after a heart attack, T cells can go rogue and become major drivers of heart inflammation. This reduces the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body.
In preclinical studies supported by the Heart Foundation, the Baker Institute team has shown that abatacept treatment could stop T cells going into overdrive after a heart attack. This treatment reduced inflammation and protected the heart within one week, maintaining the heart’s ability to beat effectively. This work is now published in the journal Cardiovascular Research.
Immunologist and study author Dr Jonathan Noonan says, “Targeting the immune system has transformed the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases — but we don’t yet have any drugs to prevent immune-driven inflammation after a heart attack. This leaves millions of heart attack survivors worldwide vulnerable to long-term complications, including heart failure. We hope that our new treatment strategy allows us to change this, and we are now hoping to demonstrate this treatment benefit in patients.”
Professor Garry Jennings AO, Heart Foundation Chief Medical Adviser states, "This exciting discovery by Dr Noonan is very promising and opens the door to further research in this space.
“Heart attacks remain a leading cause of death and disability in Australia, and while survival rates have improved, many patients still face serious complications due to inflammation-driven heart damage."
With abatacept already approved in Australia for treating autoimmune disease, the time to get this drug into the clinic could be significantly reduced. This means that in future, abatacept could be given as a simple infusion within 72 hours of a heart attack to stop T cells going into overdrive. Even a single treatment could be enough to greatly improve long-term survival rates and quality of life for those suffering a heart attack.
For further information or to organise interviews please contact:
Loretta Walshe
T: 03 8532 1240
M: 0466 941 942
E: loretta.walshe@baker.edu.au
