(OT,, kind of) Stem Cells To Repair Damaged Heart Muscle

[Guest guest]

This is kind of Off Topic, because it does not specifically

refer to heart defects, but I think that adult stem cells (cells taken from the

person’s own body as opposed to embryonic stem cells) are going to be

used more and more in the future to repair hearts….other studies are

working on growing valves using adult stem cells, for example. Anyway, I thought

this was interesting)

KathyR

      Stem Cells To Repair Damaged Heart Muscle

Science Daily — In the first trial

of its kind in the world, 60 patients who have recently suffered a major heart

attack will be injected with selected stem cells from their own bone marrow

during routine coronary bypass surgery.

The Bristol trial will test whether the stem cells will repair heart muscle

cells damaged by the heart attack, by preventing late scar formation and hence

impaired heart contraction.

Dr Raimondo Ascione from the University of Bristol and colleagues at the

Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) have been awarded a grant of £210,000 from the

British Heart Foundation (BHF) to conduct the clinical trial.

Professor Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the BHF, said: "

We hope that this exciting Bristol project will provide information taking us a

step nearer to the day when stem cells can be used routinely to help repair

damaged hearts. "

In a heart attack, part of the heart muscle loses its blood supply (usually

due to furring up of the arteries with fatty material) and cells in that part

of the heart die, leaving a scar. This reduces the ability of the heart to pump

blood around the body.

While the blood supply to the heart can be improved with coronary bypass

surgery or angioplasty, thereby reducing the risk of further heart attacks,

these techniques do not restore the viability and function of the area already

damaged.

In 3-6 months after surgery, 20 per cent of patients develop a thinning of

the walls of the heart, which in its most extreme form, can lead to congestive

heart failure.

Dr Raimondo Ascione, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, said: " I am very

grateful to the British Heart Foundation for funding this important trial; the

first of its kind worldwide. We have elected to use a very promising stem cell

type selected from the patient's own bone marrow. This approach ensures no risk

of rejection or infection. It also gets around the ethical issues that would

result from use of stem cells from embryonic or foetal tissue.

" Current treatments aim to keep the patient alive with a heart that is

working less efficiently than before the heart attack. Cardiac stem cell

therapy aims to repair the damaged heart as it has the potential to replace the

damaged tissue. "

In this trial (known as TransACT), all patients will have bone marrow

harvested before their heart operation. Then either stem cells from their own

bone marrow or a placebo will be injected into the patients' damaged hearts

during routine coronary bypass surgery. The feasibility and safety of this

technique has already been demonstrated.

As a result of the chosen double blind placebo-controlled design, neither

the patients nor the surgeon knows whether the patient is going to be injected

with stem cells or placebo. This ensures that results are not biased in any

way, and is the most powerful way to prove whether or not the new treatment is

effective.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by

University of Bristol.