Can stem cells heal damaged hearts? No easy answers, but some signs of hope
October 8, 2008Recent studies indicate that infusing hearts with stem cells taken from bone marrow could improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction (tissue damage that results from a heart attack). But in a recent systematic review, Cochrane Researchers concluded that more clinical trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of stem cell therapies for heart patients, as well as studies to establish how these treatments work.
In a heart attack, blocked arteries can cut off the blood supply to areas of heart tissue. This leads to myocardial infarction - severe tissue damage caused by lack of oxygen, which is transported in the blood.
"We need more studies that look at the long term effects of these interventions, as well as at the types of cells that are used and how they actually repair the heart tissue," says lead researcher Dr. Enca Martin-Rendon, who works in the Stem Cell Research Department, NHS Blood and Transplant, at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK.
The team drew together data from 13 different trials involving 811 patients. Although these trials show that treatment with bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) may lead to a moderate improvement in cardiac function, the researchers say there is still not enough evidence to confirm this. They also found that BMSC treatment did not reduce the measurable area of damaged heart tissue.
Only three trials looked to see if effects lasted for more than six months after BMSC treatment. The researchers discovered that in these trials, there was no evidence of any benefit 12 months after treatment.
Quite how BMSCs cause this short term benefit is uncertain. One theory is that they enable extra blood vessels to develop, while another is that they release chemicals that encourage the growth of healthy heart muscle cells while decreasing the development of scar tissue in the damaged area.
"If it turns out these treatments are beneficial in any way, they could be made available to all heart attack patients. We think infusion with stem cells may help increase blood flow into damaged heart tissues, but without more investment in this area of research, we can't be sure," says Martin-Rendon.
Source: Wiley
-
New study makes key finding in stem cell self-renewal
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Scientists make strides toward fixing infant hearts
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Need muscle for a tough spot? Turn to fat stem cells
Jan 27, 2012 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
-
Ontario's first cardiac stem cell transplant performed last week
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Scientists use silk from the tasar silkworm as a scaffold for heart tissue
Jan 30, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
Feb 08, 2012
-
Exercise and weight loss
Feb 08, 2012
-
Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
Feb 07, 2012
-
"The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Feb 04, 2012
-
Oncolytic adenovirus
Feb 04, 2012
-
Nutrition label stuffs and diets
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Overeating may double risk of memory loss
New research suggests that consuming between 2,100 and 6,000 calories per day may double the risk of memory loss, or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), among people age 70 and older. The study was released today and will be ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
4 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...
8 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
|
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
9 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Declining health-care productivity in England: Who says so?
Reports that the National Health Service in England has been declining in productivity in the last decade appear to have been accepted as fact. However, a Viewpoint published Online First by The Lancet disputes this. The Vi ...
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Feb 09, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (58) |
17
|
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact
Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.
Researchers find extensive RNA editing in human transcriptome
In a new study published online in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, reported the evidence of extensive RNA editing in a human cell line by analysis of RNA-seq data, demons ...