Initial evidence in humans even suggests<\/a> that urolithin A can help the body remove aged or damaged parts of our cells, thereby improving their overall health.<\/p>\n Now, for the first time, researchers at King’s College London (KCL) have found evidence that urolithin A can activate a protein that plays a key role in heart health.<\/p>\n In mouse models with stiff and failing hearts, urolithin A improved measures of heart function by as much as 80 percent compared to untreated animals, according<\/a> to a press release from KCL.<\/p>\n The findings are published in Science Advances<\/a>, with financial support from the British Heart Foundation.<\/p>\n The results have scientists hopeful that urolithin A could be a previously unidentified treatment option for a common form of heart failure.<\/p>\n It’s called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), a cardiovascular condition that occurs when the heart still squeezes normally but is too stiff to relax properly during the refilling stage.<\/p>\n It is very difficult to treat. Perhaps urolithin A could help fill that gap.<\/p>\n “This raises the exciting possibility of developing new treatments that improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for people living with the condition,” says<\/a> cardiovascular scientist Joseph Burgoyne, senior author of the study.<\/p>\n “While there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that people should eat pomegranates to treat heart failure, these findings raise the possibility that dietary approaches that enhance urolithin A production may help alleviate this condition.”<\/p>\n The study was based on research conducted in mice and also in human heart tissue made from stem cells<\/a> in the lab.<\/p>\n In mice with stiff and failing hearts, urolithin A reduced scarring in the heart and helped the organ to relax properly between beats.<\/p>\n That ultimately eased the pressure inside the heart, which can otherwise lead to fluid buildup and harmful enlargement.<\/p>\n To see if these hopeful results might extend to our own species, Burgoyne and colleagues tested urolithin A on lab-grown human heart tissue.<\/p>\n Sure enough, the metabolite helped this heart tissue contract and relax faster, likely by activating a protein called PKGI\u03b1.<\/p>\n This protein is involved in lowering blood pressure and helping the heart relax again after a beat.<\/p>\n “Our findings identify a completely new therapeutic target and show that urolithin A can activate this pathway to improve heart relaxation and reduce disease severity,” explains<\/a> Burgoyne.<\/p>\n Today, there are very few available treatments for those living with HFpEF.<\/p>\n Many established therapies for heart failure are focused on helping a weakened organ keep pumping. But that is not a problem in those with HFpEF.<\/p>\n In this condition, the heart continues to pump properly, but it struggles to relax between each beat.<\/p>\n “This type of heart failure is becoming increasingly common as populations age and rates of obesity and diabetes<\/a> rise,” explains<\/a> Burgoyne.<\/p>\n “Despite its growing burden, treatment options remain limited because the disease is complex and varies considerably between patients.”<\/p>\n Whether or not urolithin A actually helps treat heart failure in actual patients with HFpEF will require a randomized controlled trial involving a large and diverse cohort of participants.<\/p>\n The current study only focused on male mice, although women tend to suffer from HFpEF more than men.<\/p>\n But preclinical studies suggest that there are sex-dependent differences in how the hearts of rodents respond to metabolic and hypertensive stress.<\/p>\n So it’s unclear if these results will extend to females.<\/p>\n “While these findings are promising, the benefits have so far been seen in animals and engineered human tissue, so clinical trials<\/a> involving people are needed to test if this approach is effective for patients,” says<\/a> James Leiper, Director of Research at the British Heart Foundation.<\/p>\n “In the meantime, a healthy, balanced diet remains one of the best ways to look after your heart.<\/p>\n “Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is linked to better heart health, but it’s important to remember that no single food can prevent or treat heart disease on its own.”<\/p>\n The research has been published in Science Advances<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer<\/a> and edited by Rebecca Dyer<\/a>. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each time you eat a juicy pomegranate, your gut bacteria can produce a natural metabolite called urolithin A.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[134,1021,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-620480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-msft-content","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pomegranate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/engineered-heart-tissues-each-grown-between-fixed-posts-900x675.jpg\")
Engineered heart tissues. (King’s College London<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"Pomegranate](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Pomegranate-897x675.jpg\")
Urolithin A boosted PKGI\u03b1 activity in lab tests. (Su et al., Science Advances, 2026)<\/p>\n