Urolithin A, a compound the body can produce after eating pomegranates, walnuts and certain berries, improved measures of heart function by up to 80% in animal models of a difficult-to-treat form of heart failure. It helped stiff heart tissue relax more effectively while reducing scarring and abnormal enlargement, two hallmarks of this hard-to-manage condition. The compound also improved relaxation in engineered human heart tissue, suggesting its benefits may extend beyond animal models and pointing to a potential new avenue for treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, a form that currently has few effective treatment options.
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