A team of UK researchers have demonstrated that stem cells can be used to create heart ‘patches’ in a laboratory setting. These patches could be used to repair hearts that have been damaged by a heart attack. Trials will soon be commenced to test the efficacy and safety of the patches.
The ground-breaking study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, with the results recently being presented at the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) Conference in Manchester. If further trials show the procedure to be successful, it could improve the quality of life of millions of people and save countless lives.
The research team was led by Professor Sian Harding at Imperial College London. Her team created tiny 2cm x 3cm patches that contain as many as 50 million human stem cells. The stem cells have been programmed by the researchers to turn into heart cells, which have all of the capabilities of healthy heart tissue.
When a person has a heart attack, the heart muscle is deprived of oxygen and nutrients. This leads to some parts of the heart muscle dying, which weakens the organ and leads to heart failure. Heart failure is a debilitating condition that makes it difficult to perform common physical tasks like walking up a flight of stairs.
The patches could then be surgically implanted in patients who have suffered from a heart attack and have sections of their heart which no longer function optimally. The patches could restore a patient’s heart function by giving them a more powerful heart muscle.
The stem cell patches have already been shown to be effective in animal tests. The research team transplanted them into rabbits with damaged hearts and saw an improvement of heart function. They also found that the number of abnormal heart rhythms had decreased.
When the patches are transplanted they support the damaged tissue and help it pump more effectively. They also release natural chemicals that encourage the surrounding heart muscle tissue to regenerate.
Source: Breakthrough as heart patches set for human trials
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