The comprehensive in Vitro Fibrillation assay (CiF) is a non-clinical, mechanism-based methodology for testing cardiovascular risk. This is the first assay to determine electrophysiological and endoribic acid responses in cloned human cardiac arrhythmias. The second strand of the CIPA assay measures changes inricular output, conduction, frequency and wave form. The third strand measures electrophysiological parameters, including conductance, frequency and wave form. This four-slope profile enables the blood flow study of isolated mixtures of drugs to reveal safety and efficacy.
What Research Has Been Performed?
To this day, there has been an impressive amount of research performed using CIPA assays to obtain important data about the pharmacological, genetic, metabolic, and clinical properties of drugs. For example, a recent study biology research group at the University of British Columbia, Canada, revealed results demonstrating that a novel cardiovascular risk factor is associated with defects in the heart cells (the myocytes). By contrast, when animals were not pre-treated with AIs, they did not develop abnormalities in their cardiac ion channel assays. Furthermore, the researchers detected that the drug treatment significantly affected the AIs-induced evolution of the myocytes, suggesting the efficacy of CIPA in this situation.
CIPA was initially tested on nine animal strains, including four with myocardial infarction, and two without. These initial tests established the safety and efficiency of CIPA in non-ectopic myocardial ischemia. Subsequently, an improved CIPA assay protocol was applied to a subset of three animals with myocardial infarction, and three additional strains with normal and corrected heart rhythms. The results demonstrated a robust increase in the numbers of cardiac units (MCU), as well as a significant improvement in the ventricular function. In summary, CIPA proved remarkably effective in animals with established heart disease when accompanied by an early, adequate, and clinically effective screening test.
The Effects And Overall Importance Of Cipa Assay
To evaluate the effect of CIPA in patients with noncardiac disorders, a placebo-controlled, double-blind study was performed. A total of 6 volunteers with cardiomyopathy received CIPA intravenously in the presence of a nonselective antihypertensive, in addition to a beta-blocking antihypertensive drug. The study confirmed the efficacy of CIPA in patients with noncardiac dysfunctions. CIPA had no significant effect on patients who were receiving a beta-blocking anticoagulant, nor on patients who were receiving a pacemaker or implantation. Thus, the primary objective of this clinical trial was to confirm the efficacy of CIPA in patients without cardiomyopathy, as well as patients with nonheterotic cardiac rhythm.
CIPA has met with considerable success, both in terms of treating patients and researchers have been very impressed by the excellent outcomes obtained from CIPA assays. However, some of the earliest investigations of the cardiovascular effects of CIPA focused only on the cardiac action potential of the drug, ignoring the other properties of CIPA that affect the nervous system. It is now known that CIPA can stimulate the release of growth hormone, which plays a key role in the development of cardiac fibrosis in genetically affected individuals.
What Steps Have Researchers Taken?
Therefore, researchers carried out genetic fingerprinting studies using the CIPA assay, to determine if the blood levels of the human protein lead to cardiovascular disease in humans. Using the CIPA assay, the researchers confirmed the high frequency of homozygous (mutation) frequencies in patients with genetic cardiomyopathy and confirmed the role of the human protein in stimulating the release of growth hormone. Accordingly, the CIPA assay has enabled researchers to design and develop drugs that control or reduce the physiological function of the heart and promote heart growth and health.
A major objective of this work was to determine whether there was a relationship between the CIPA assay results and the severity of cardiomyopathy. Although several other diseases have also shown association with the CIPA assay, including cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, congenital cardiomyopathy, sickle cell anaemia, and multiple myeloma, conclusive evidence has not been made to link the CIPA assay to cardiomyopathy.
