Stem cells repair heart attack damage

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1251000/1251876.stm I quote

in part:

" Stem cells taken from adult animals can start rebuilding tissues damaged by

heart attacks, say US scientists.

Stem cells are the body's " master cells " , which can develop into a wide variety

of different cells types to replace

those which die or are damaged.

However, controlling this development could potentially provide a source of cell

types for transplant.

This study offers hope that we might one day be able to actually reverse the

damage caused by a heart attack says

Professor Francis , National Genome Research Institute

If, during a heart attack, more than about 40% of the principal pumping chamber

of the organ is damaged, very little can

be done to save the patient.

A ready supply of replacement cells could save some of these patients, doctors

believe. In this experiment, carried out

on mice, the stem cells were taken from the bone marrow, where they normally

help produce replacement blood cells.

However, when injected into the damaged mouse hearts, remarkably, the stem cells

began to develop into replacement

cardiac muscle cells.

Not only this, but the cells actually migrated into the damaged areas of the

hearts, and also produced cells to produce

the blood vessels needed to supply the new muscle with blood.

Function improved

After an average of nine days, the new heart muscle cells were present in 68% of

the damaged portions of the mouse

hearts.

Dr Orlic, from the National Human Genome Research Institute, said:

" Initially, I thought if there was a little

regeneration - some heart muscle cells forming - then that would be considered

successful.

" Instead, our expectations were far exceeded in terms of seeing not just heart

muscle cells, but blood vessels and

functional measurements showing that the repair actually improved cardiac

output. It was a wonderful surprise. "

His colleague, Professor Francis , added: " This study offers hope that we

might one day be able to actually

reverse the damage caused by a heart attack. "

Not everything was good news though. The treatment only worked in 12 out of 30

cases - about 40%. This was thought to be

caused by the difficulty of achieving an accurate injection of a tiny heart that

beats 600 times a minute.

Nonetheless, clinical trials in humans could begin within three years.

The success also provides encouragement that useable stem cells can be found

from other sources apart from the human

embryo, which remains controversial.

In fact, other researchers have already managed to persuade adult bone marrow

stem cells to develop into brain neurons. "

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg ,

http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gowatson

gowatson@...