I ❤️ [insert word or phrase]. These heart icons are so ubiquitous that we see them everywhere, for example on coffee mugs, T-shirts, and pens.
Another use for this icon is we ❤️ RRx-001 (nibrozetone), and not just because how fantastic and fun it is to work with. Certainly, the beyond-cool fact that the molecule comes from the aerospace and defense industry and derives from a component of rocket fuel is reason enough for us to double or even triple ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ it. And in the words of the late, great comedian Bob Saget,
The phrase also makes sense on an entirely other level because of preclinical evidence that RRx-001 (nibrozetone) is cardioprotective. According to an article from the BMJ entitled Cardioprotection: definition, classification, and fundamental principles, the definition of the term cardioprotection is “all mechanisms and means that contribute to the preservation of the heart by reducing or even preventing myocardial damage.”
By this definition, then, RRx-001 is cardioprotective because it significantly lowers cholesterol levels, attenuates doxorubicin-induced cardiac damage vs. control, reduces cardiac remodeling post myocardial infarction, prevents ischemia-reperfusion injury, and improves right ventricular dysfunction during pulmonary hypertension. Click on these links to go to the specific abstracts and manuscripts.
Potential cardioprotective mechanisms include release of the vasodilator, nitric oxide, only under poorly oxygenated conditions where it is most needed, inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome, which otherwise kickstarts and perpetuates inflammation, and activation of the master antioxidant transcription factor, Nrf2.
Hopefully now you have reason to ❤️ RRx-001 (nibrozetone) too.