ENRICH study version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effects of chronic Remote Ischaemic Conditioning on coronary and peripheral vascular function in patients with Heart Failure
IRAS ID
324492
Contact name
Ranjit Arnold
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 22 days
Research summary
Heart failure (HF) is a disease which affects the heart’s ability to pump or fill with blood. It can affect a person’s quality of life and their ability to exercise. Recent work has shown that a reduction in the blood supply to the heart may contribute to the problem. It is therefore possible that improving the blood supply to the heart may help patients with HF. One possible way that this might be achieved is with a method called remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC). This involves placing a cuff on a person’s arm (identical to a blood pressure cuff) and inflating it for a few minutes to reduce the blood flow in a person’s arm. This is thought to release chemicals into the bloodstream which can have positive effects on the heart. This has been studied in patients with other forms of heart disease, but is yet to be tested properly in patients with heart failure. We believe that combining the RIC procedure with a low level of arm exercise may result in further improvements in the person’s blood vessels and heart. We are planning to test this in a series of studies. The first step (phase 1) is to test whether people find the combination of RIC with exercise a comfortable procedure. Once we have established the most comfortable combination of exercise and RIC, we will test whether this can result in an improvement in the function of a person’s blood vessels (phase 2) and the blood supply to their heart (phase 3).
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/WM/0188
Date of REC Opinion
5 Oct 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion