Genetic Mutation Alters Response To Heart Failure Drugs

... Drugs known as beta blockers help reduce the heart's workload during heart failure via their action on beta-adrenergic receptors in cardiac cells. However, doctors remain puzzled by the variable responses to beta blockers among patients. Researchers now show that the key to this variation lies in a single amino acid change in the beta1-adrenergic receptor, that may differ from person to person, which alters the receptor's conformation and the receptor's response to certain beta blockers. ...