A living patch for the heart
A special patch will protect the heart from the effects of a heart attack
Ilya Khel, Hi-News
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death for both men and women. Every year hundreds of thousands of people die from heart attacks and heart attacks. Survivors of a heart attack face serious heart failure. During a heart attack, the network of blood vessels delivering blood to the heart, the coronary arteries, experiences blockage due to the accumulation of cholesterol and fat deposits. Blood cannot flow to the heart, as a result of which it does not receive oxygen and nutrients, which leads to tissue death.
Thus, survivors of a heart attack are left with a weakened heart, and everyday tasks like lifting objects or climbing stairs become tedious or even dangerous. Repairing the damaged heart tissue has proved difficult, if not impossible. However, a group of scientists from Imperial College London has created a new tool that, in their opinion, can heal a wounded heart.
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Scientists have developed small "patches" of heart tissue the size of a thumb – about two by three centimeters – containing up to 50 million human stem cells. They programmed stem cells to mature into working cardiac muscle or cardiac progenitor cells. Patches are sewn onto the damaged area of the heart, helping to pump blood and releasing chemicals to stimulate recovery and regeneration. The results of the scientists' work were presented at the conference of the British Cardiovascular Society in Manchester.
Image from the press release of the British Cardiovascular Society Heart patches set for human trials – VM.
Using stem cells to treat weakened heart muscle is not a new concept. But many existing methods involve the introduction of stem cells directly into the damaged tissue and, not being held in place without a "framework", they are quickly removed from the heart and are not able to cause a significant level of recovery.
Scientists tested the operation of the patch on rabbits and found that four weeks after implantation of the patch, the left ventricle of the heart (the chamber that pumps blood into the body through the aorta) is restored without the development of pathological heart rhythms. They also found that blood vessels from the recipients' hearts sprouted into the patch and helped nourish them, which was important for integration. The patches began to beat spontaneously after three days, and after a month they began to imitate mature heart tissue.
The next step will be to test the safety of the patches in clinical trials, and then try to use them to restore people's hearts.
"We hope someday to add heart patches to the treatment that doctors will be able to regularly offer people after a heart attack," says Dr. Richard Jabbour, who conducted the study. "We could prescribe one of these patches along with medications to someone with heart failure, so that we could take the patch right off the shelf and implant it in a person."
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