Mavacamten and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Washington State University’s Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience department are working on a medication that may be used to help treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This disease can lead to stroke, heart attacks, or other forms of heart disease, and even death (Awinda et al., 2020). The molecule of interest is known as mavacamten. Mavacamten is proving to suppress the force generated by muscle cells in the human heart which would be very beneficial in treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (Awinda et al., 2020).

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the enlargement in the ventricle walls of the heart, mainly the left. With the heart working too hard and too much contraction, the ventricle walls become thick and stiff. Thick and stiff ventricle walls don’t allow the heart to properly fill with blood as it relaxes, and don’t allow enough blood to be pushed out to the body (Awinda et al., 2020). The condition affects men and women equally and there are some genetic markers to detect the disease, however most people only discover the condition after a cardiac event occurs (Awinda et al., 2020).

Washington State University’s team is testing mavacamten on prepared cardiac tissue samples using a test group and a control group (Awinda et al., 2020). To activate the muscle, calcium is applied to the tissue which makes sense as calcium binds to troponin C moving tropomyosin out of the way allowing myosin heads to interact with an actin filament leading to contraction (Awinda et al., 2020). The team has found that the drug reduces the maximal force of contraction by 20 to 30% compared to the control groups (Awinda et al., 2020). The mavacamten works as an inhibitor to myosin which makes it a good candidate to reduce the force of contraction and treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (Awinda et al., 2020). 

There is still much research to be completed, but the results thus far are promising in treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The next goal of the group is to see how mice expressing human genes respond to the drug (Awinda et al., 2020). Hopefully the promising results continue with further research.

Awinda, P.O., et al. (2020) Effects of mavacamten on Ca2+ sensitivity of contraction as sarcomere length    varied in human myocardium. British Journal of Pharmacology. doi.org/10.1111/bph.15271.