The results add to a growing body of evidence showing that intense light has a healing effect on the heart and blood vessels, a finding that could help reduce the number of cardiac events that happen after surgery. Myocardial Injuries in Noncardiac Surgeries (MINS) occur in about 20% of patients and significantly increase one-year mortality rates.

“The risk of myocardial injury goes up after certain surgeries and is significantly higher in patients older than 45,” said the study’s senior author Tobias de la Garza Eckle, MD, Ph.D., FASA, professor of anesthesiology at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine. “In tests on humans and animal models, we found that intense light can significantly reduce troponin release. High levels of troponin following non-cardiac surgery can lead to death. Blocking it could be a very novel therapy for MINS—a disease without therapy.”

Eckle’s previous studies using rodent models have shown that bright light can strengthen the endothelium or lining of the blood vessels. The protection comes from a protein called PER2 which works with fellow protein HIF1A to boost levels of yet another protein, ANGPTL4, a key player in vascular health.