The first attempt in Britain to treat heart failure patients with gene therapy is to begin within weeks, as part of study aimed at improving the lives of up to a million people in the UK who suffer the debilitating and potentially fatal condition.

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Two clinical trials are planned for a few dozen British patients who will be deliberately exposed to a virus carrying a synthetic copy of a human gene known to be involved in boosting heartbeat.

The first trial will be carried out at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Glasgow. The patients will be part of a group of 200 from around the world who will have the virus injected via a cardiac catheter inserted through a vein in the leg. A second trial at the Harefield and Papworth hospitals will be based entirely within the UK and involve 24 patients with chronic heart failure who are already fitted with an "artificial heart" known as a left ventricular assist device, which helps to pump blood around the body.

The aim in both trials is to inject additional copies of a healthy gene, known to be responsible for a key protein involved in regulating the rhythmic contraction of the heart muscle. It is hoped that the extra genes will remain active within a patient's heart for many months or even years.

Scientists believe the approach could lead to a significant improvement in the efficiency of the diseased heart to pump blood around the body so improving the quality of life of thousands of patients with progressive heart failure who develop serious ailments as well as severe fatigue.

Scientists warned that it will still be several years before the technique can be made widely available. They do not want to raise hopes unduly as many previous gene therapy trials on patients with a range of other illnesses have failed to live up to expectations.

However, the heart researchers said they are optimistic that the gene technique will improve the quality of life in at least some of the patients, who would otherwise suffer deteriorating health and life expectancy a third of patients die within a year of diagnosis.

"Once heart failure starts, it progresses into a vicious cycle where the pumping becomes weaker and weaker, as each heart cell simply cannot respond to the increased demand," said Alexander Lyon, a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton.

"Our goal is to fight back against heart failure by targeting and reversing some of the critical molecular changes arising in the heart when it fails."

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Gene therapy to offer up to 1m heart patients new lease of life

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