Calcitonin, a hormone produced by the heart that helps regulate bone mass could be a treatment for people with AF.
"Until recently, the hormone calcitonin was only thought to be produced by the thyroid gland, with no known effects on the heart. Now, research published in Nature has revealed that cells in the atria, produce approximately 16 times more calcitonin than cells in the thyroid.
Researchers at Oxford also found that the hormone plays a vital role in reducing atrial scarring. Such scarring makes it harder for electrical impulses to travel smoothly through the atria and can cause them to beat in a chaotic manner, known as atrial fibrillation.
The researchers studied muscle cells from atrial biopsies taken from people undergoing heart surgery and found that they released calcitonin. Interestingly, cells from biopsies of patients with severe AF produced six times less calcitonin.
The calcitonin receptor was present in atrial cells responsible for producing collagen, a major component of scar tissue. When the team treated these cells – called fibroblasts – with calcitonin the cells produced 46 percent less collagen.
Further experiments showed that mice that were unable to produce calcitonin in their hearts developed two-and-a-half times more atrial scar tissue compared to mice with normal levels of calcitonin. They also developed AF at a younger age and had approximately 16 times longer episodes of AF. Strikingly, atrial scarring and AF were completely prevented in mice whose hearts produced greater amounts of calcitonin."
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