Potential cure for peripheral artery disease

Ground-breaking results from researchers at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) aims to enhance the outcomes for patients with Peripheral artery disease (PAD).

PAD is a common condition affecting more than 230 million people worldwide. It involves narrowed arteries reducing blood flow most commonly to the legs and other vital organs.

PAD is caused by a build-up of fatty, cholesterol-containing deposits or plaques on artery walls.

Currently, around two thirds of people with end stage advanced PAD will require an amputation and approximately a fifth will have a cardiac event, such as a heart attack, in their lifetime.

Vascular surgeon and Head of Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery at SCGH Professor Shirley Jansen and Associate Professor Juliana Hamzah have found success in a new drug that will change the trajectory of people suffering with advanced PAD.

After an accumulation of 10 years of research, the new drug works by attaching to the artery walls and breaking down the cholesterol-containing deposits (plaques).

Professor Jansen said prevalence of PAD was increasing globally as a result of diabetes and obesity and if the drug continued to prove successful, it would mean a dramatic difference to millions of people.

"Current risk factor treatments have a ceiling of benefit only," Professor Jansen said.

"This drug could be a game changer for patients preventing difficulty walking and amputation,"

Associate Professor Hamzah said the next step was to manufacture the drug in quantity and quality for clinical use.

"We will perform toxicology assessment first and proceed with phase one trial and subsequently phase two," she said.

“It’s not completely 100 per cent guaranteed, but it’s a first-in-class situation.

"The research was made possible thanks to a collaboration between SCGH and the Harry Perkins Institute."