Doctors Josep Comin and Pedro Moliner, researchers from the IDIBELL Bioheart group and members of the HUB Multidisciplinary Heart Failure Unit, have been invited to publish in Nature Reviews Cardiology, the scientific cardiology journal with the highest impact factor. Specifically, they have written a review on intravenous iron supplementation in patients with chronic heart failure.

Iron deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with chronic heart failure (up to 50% of cases) and is associated with more admissions and higher mortality. This is explained by the key role that iron plays in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, essential for the correct function of the cardiomyocyte, the heart muscle cells capable of spontaneously and individually contracting.

“Clinical practice guidelines recommend a proactive strategy in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition,” explained IDIBELL and HUB cardiologist Pedro Moliner.

The article published in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Cardiology reviews the main clinical trials. In summary, they have shown that intravenous iron administration improves the quality of life and prognosis in patients with heart failure and ventricular dysfunction.

Ongoing studies will show whether this benefit is also maintained in other forms of heart failure, such as those patients with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.

IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).