Medicine› Pathology and Forensic Medicine› Cardiac Ischemia and Reperfusion

Myocardial infarction — Dexrazoxane

Submitted 2026-10-23

Field: Medicine › Pathology and Forensic MedicineType: No effect foundArea: myocardial infarctionTarget: DexrazoxaneStage: preclinical

Hypothesis

Dexrazoxane, which binds iron and calcium inside cells, would reduce the heart damage that happens when blood flow returns after a heart attack.

What failed

In pigs given dexrazoxane or saline before reperfusion (5 per group), dead heart tissue was the same (77.2% and 76.4% of the area at risk), and troponin and markers of oxidative damage and inflammation did not differ.

Broken assumption

Blocking iron and calcium overload reduces reperfusion injury after a heart attack.

Why

The abstract does not give a cause. Metal chelation did not protect the heart in this early reperfusion model.

From the published paper: Kamat et al. PLoS ONE, 2016. ↗CC BY

Research ideas from this failure

Unvetted lead — read the papers

New hypotheses this failure suggests, each with a crucial experiment, a rival explanation of the original result, and the papers it rests on. Written by AI from paper titles and abstracts found on OpenAlex (and Europe PMC, for life and health sciences).

Related failures (1)

Matched on shared genes, mechanisms and ways of failing as well as wording. Each shows why it matched — treat these as leads rather than verdicts.

nephrotic syndromeLow-dose interleukin-2 (IL2)different research area
Low-dose IL2 raises regulatory T cells, which reverse protein loss in the urine in animal models of nephrotic syndrome, so it would lower protein loss in children whose nephrotic syndrome resists all other drugs.
In 5 boys given six monthly cycles, IL2 raised regulatory T cells in some, but protein in the urine and kidney function did not change at any point. One child had an asthma attack after the first dose.
Why it matched: mechanism: Inflammation & innate immunity

Links in published research

Where this experiment's genes are known to matter outside its own research area, and the papers behind those links. Sources: Open Targets Platform and Europe PMC.