DeCure's autonomous Cardio AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for rheumatic heart disease — screening already-approved drugs against its 23-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleRheumatic heart disease maps to a 23-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for rheumatic heart disease is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
lipoprotein(a) (LPA) — LPA is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet 2sdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 8TCE · 1.07 Å · ligand (2S)-3-phenyl-2-[(3R)-pyrrolidin-3-yl]propanoic acid (HWF). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
About 2% of deaths worldwide due to cardiac failure is associated with rheumatic heart disease, which primarily affects patients under 40 in underdeveloped areas. The pathogenesis of the disease has not been fully elucidated, and surgical treatment remains the only option, which is expensive and technically demanding for patients in less developed regions. A 2020 review discusses six signalling pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of RHD but does not report any drug that modifies the disease course.
A 2017 review of inflammatory rheumatological conditions notes that rheumatic inflammation of cardiac structures can manifest as pericarditis, myocarditis, or endocarditis, and that heart valves and the intracardiac conduction system can be affected, leading to AV block. The long-term mortality of rheumatic diseases is elevated predominantly because of increased risk for cardiovascular comorbidities. The review states that cardiovascular manifestations such as pericarditis, myocarditis, and vasculitis are treated initially with high-dose glucocorticoids and then over the long term with maintenance drugs such as methotrexate and azathioprine, and that biological agents are sometimes used. This is not a report of a controlled trial but a review based on selected literature and clinical experience.
A 2019 retrospective observational study of drug-related problems in RHD patients found that the most commonly occurring drug therapy problems were potential drug interactions, sub-therapeutic dose, adverse drug reaction, and drug duplication. The majority of prescriptions were compliant with WHO guidelines, but the study indicates there is still room to improve rational prescribing. A 2013 viewpoint article asserts that immunosuppressive treatment for rheumatic diseases with cardiac involvement can prevent developing cardiovascular involvement and reduce morbidity and mortality, but provides no controlled trial data specific to RHD.
What is still missing: no randomised controlled trial has evaluated any drug specifically for treating or preventing rheumatic heart disease itself. The signalling pathways are described but no targeted therapy has been tested in patients. The drug-related problem study was observational and did not test an intervention. Funding for trials in underdeveloped areas, proper trial design with hard endpoints, and patient stratification by disease stage and valve involvement remain absent.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Deutsches Ärzteblatt international · 2017 · 48 citations
Cardiovascular Comorbidity in Inflammatory Rheumatological Conditions
AbstractBACKGROUND: Approximately 1.5 million adults in Germany suffer from an inflammatory rheumatological condition. The most common among these are rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis-above all axial spondyloarthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis (Bekhterev's disease) and psoriatic arthritis. These systemic inflammatory diseases often affect the heart as well. METHODS: This review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a selective literature search, on current European guidelines, and on the authors' clinical experience. RESULTS: Rheumatic inflammation of cardiac structures can manifest itself as pericarditis, myocarditis, or endocarditis. The heart valves and the intracardiac conduction system can be affected as well, leading to AV block. Functional sequelae, e.g., congestive heart failure, can arise as a consequence of any inflammatory rheumatic disease. The long-term mortality of rheumatic diseases is elevated predominantly because of the increased risk for cardiovascular comorbidities. The cardiovascular risk profile should therefore be re-evaluated regularly (e.g., at 5-year intervals) in cooperation with the patient's primary care physician. The cardiovascular manifestations of rheumatic disease, such as pericarditis, myocarditis, and vasculitis, are treated initially with high-dose glucocorticoids and then over the long term with maintenance drugs such as methotrexate and azathioprine. Biological agents are sometimes used as well. CONCLUSION: In patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, the elevated cardiovascular risk should be kept in mind and preventive measures should be initiated early. This subject should be further studied in controlled trials so that the treatment options for patients with cardiac involvement can be evaluated.
AbstractJournal Article DOES SODIUM SALICYLATE CURE RHEUMATIC FEVER ? Get access JAMES REID JAMES REID Clinical Chemotherapeutic Research Unit of the Medical Research Council in the Gardiner Institute of Medicine, University of Glasgow. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Volume 17, Issue 2, April 1948, Pages 139–151, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.qjmed.a066510 Published: 01 April 1948 Article history Received: 27 December 1947 Published: 01 April 1948
Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine · 2020 · 8 citations · open access
Signalling pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatic heart disease (Review)
AbstractRheumatic heart disease (RHD) is frequently encountered in underdeveloped areas and primarily affects patients under the age of 40 years old. The pathogenesis of RHD has yet to be fully elucidated and surgical treatment remains the only option, which is expensive and technically demanding for patients in less developed areas. Signalling pathways are crucial for the occurrence and development of several diseases, and researchers worldwide have made progress in elucidating the signalling pathways associated with the pathogenesis of RHD. The aim of the present review was to discuss 6 signalling pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of RHD, summarize the methods and progress of these studies and propose future research directions. Important information on the pathogenesis of RHD according to the current progress of signalling pathway studies was also summarized, in the hope that this review may serve as a reference for future research on the signalling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of RHD.
International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences · 2019 · 1 citations · open access
A retrospective observational study on drug-related problems in patients with rheumatic heart disease
AbstractRheumatic Heart Disease (RHD is one of the leading cause of public health degradation among children and adults since the twentieth century. Rheumatic fever mostly affects the population of developing countries, especially where poverty is widespread. About 2% of deaths worldwide due to cardiac failure is associated with RHD. Although pharmacotherapy in RHD is beneficial in its management, its outcomes may often be compromised due to the associated drug therapy problems (DTP). Data containing their demographic details, clinical presentation and drug chart was obtained and noted in a structured case report form. The data was compiled, and the drug-related problems associated with commonly prescribed drugs were evaluated. The prescription was critically analysed as per WHO guidelines for its appropriateness. The most commonly occurring DTP was potential drug interactions, sub-therapeutic dose, adverse drug reaction and drug duplication. Majority of the prescriptions were compliant to the recommendations of WHO guidelines. The study highlights the potential drug-related problems in the management of RHD and hence indicates that there is still room to improve rational prescribing for patients with RHD. Rheumatic Heart Disease, drug-related problems, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, drug duplication, overdosage, Rheumatic fever.
New Viewpoint about Cardiac Diseases: A Cardiac Disease can be a Rheumatic Disease
AbstractCardiovascular diseases morbidity and mortality rate is higher in patients with rheumatic disorders than patients with non-rheumatic disorders [1,2,4]. This point is important and importance that must be paid attention certainly. Immunosuppressive treatment for rheumatic diseases with cardiac involvements can prevent from developing cardiovascular involvement especially ischemic heart disease.Also it can reduce morbidity and mortality of these patients [3,5-7].
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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