A recent study published in The Journal of Physiology suggests that a stem cell treatment may be able to help heart cells regenerate after a heart attack. This new stem cell treatment works by regenerating heart muscle cells.
Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body. They are unspecialised cells that can change to become specialised cells, including skin cells, heart cells, or nerve cells.
Previously, scientists struggled to keep implanted stem cells from dying quickly. To overcome this issue, they created clusters of cells called cardiospheres using a combination of stem cells and heart cells.
Each cardiosphere contains a core of non-specialised stem cells surrounded by specialised heart cells. Researchers discovered that the outer layer of heart cells would protect the non-specialised stem cells during the stem cell treatment — increasing the number of stem cells that could survive transplantation.
One major challenge that researchers faced when devising this new stem cell treatment was successfully delivering the cardiospeheres to the site of the heart muscle injury. That’s because the size of the cardiospeheres increase the risk of blockages in the patient’s cardiovascular system.
The researcher team overcame this dilemma by using intrapericardial administration to deliver the stem cells. This involves a direct injection into the pericardium, which is the sac surrounding the heart.
The stem cell treatment was further improved by optimising the cardiospheres using fluid from the pericardial cavity. This helped the body see the infusion of cells as being a natural part of the body.
The stem cell treatment was tested on rats with heart damage. The researchers found that there was increased survival of stem cells that were transplanted. Additionally, the rats had improved heart function and higher survival rate compared to previous groups.
Source: Potential stem cell treatment aids regeneration of heart muscle cells following heart attack
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