Treat a heart attack only with healthy stem cells!
Stem cells deteriorate from a heart attack
Kirill Stasevich, A computer based on ScienceNOW materials:
Only the Best Marrow to Help Heal the HeartIn animal experiments, bone marrow stem cells restored heart function after a heart attack – but not if they were taken from the individual who had suffered a heart attack.
About eight years ago, doctors around the world froze in anticipation of a sensation – there was evidence that bone marrow stem cells eliminate the consequences of myocardial infarction and protect the heart muscle from subsequent complications. If we consider that 500 thousand cases of heart attack annually account for only 2 thousand donors, one can imagine with what relief both doctors and heart patients would sigh. But alas: experiments with stem cells were conducted on mice, and clinical studies have not revealed any improvement among people who have had a heart attack.
Researchers from the University of California in San Francisco (USA) managed to discover the cause of the failure that befell the doctors. Presumably, stem cells exert their therapeutic effect due to some protein factors that they synthesize "for export". In experiments on mice, a heart attack was simulated on some animals, and stem cells were taken from others. Although the individuals did not differ genetically, some of them were still young, completely healthy, and others had suffered a myocardial infarction. When they tried to apply the same therapy on humans, stem cells were taken from the patient himself to avoid immune conflict. This, according to scientists, was the reason for the fiasco.
In a series of experiments described in the journal Science Translational Medicine (Wang et al., Donor Myocardial Infarction Impairs the Therapeutic Potential of Bone Marrow Cells by an Interleukin-1–Mediated Inflammatory Response), scientists provoked a heart attack in several laboratory mice, but some infarcted mice then served as stem cell donors for others. And such cells did not have any therapeutic effect, the mice's heart continued to work very badly. On the contrary, rodents who received stem cells from healthy individuals confirmed the results obtained 8 years ago: their heart condition improved.
According to scientists, stem cells began to feel the effects of a heart attack three days after it. What exactly happens to them in this case, the researchers can not yet say. It is known that a heart attack provokes a large-scale inflammatory reaction; this may affect the state of the bone marrow.
In the picture, arrows of different colors point to immune cells of different types in the bone marrow of a healthy mouse (left)
and three days after the artificially induced heart attack (right) – VM.
When the mice that were supposed to become donors were given anti-inflammatory drugs immediately after a heart attack, the rodents who received stem cells from them really felt better.
At the same time, it is known that anti-inflammatory drugs significantly worsened the condition of people with heart attacks. In general, until scientists know exactly which bone marrow cells affect the state of the heart and how exactly they do it, any talk about "stem" therapy of a heart attack seems premature.
From the editorial office:
The author of the translation came up with the phrase about "premature conversations" from his own head – there is no such thing in the original, but the note in ScienceNOW ends optimistically: OK, now we know that it's the immune system, and we will look for factors affecting the functions of stem cells after a heart attack, and ways to neutralize their effect. In addition, for the treatment of a heart attack, stem cells of those patients who have submitted them to the VM bank in advance can be used.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru21.09.2011