MEDiscuss • Medical News • Urban pollution affects cardiac function: Initial results in the healthy rat

In the healthy rat, prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) under conditions that mimic urban pollution leads to changes to cardiac morphology and function. Compensatory mechanisms develop in these animals to sustain normal cardiac activity, but they become more vulnerable to heart disease. The results provide cellular proof in the rat of a direct effect of urban pollution on cardiac function. Studies are ongoing to verify these findings in humans.