DOCTORS have found a drug which boosts the chance of recovery from heart attacks.
Cambridge University researchers said injecting aldesleukin — which boosts white blood cells for cancer patients — repaired muscle damage.
They hope it will reduce fat in arteries.
Researcher Dr Tian Zhao said: “We may have found a way to help the heart heal.”
Some 100,000 Brits a year have heart attacks.
The study — funded by the British Heart Foundation — was published in the American College of Cardiology’s journal.
Dr Tian Zhao, a heart expert at Cambridge, said: “Right now, there is no way to stop the immune system, which gets activated after a heart attack, from mistakenly damaging the heart.
“If our clinical trial shows that aldesleukin works the same way in people as it does in mice, by harnessing the ‘good cops’ of our immune system, we may have found a way to help the heart heal after a heart attack.”
Professor Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the BHF, added: “If clinical trials confirm these early research findings it could revolutionise heart attack treatment.”