Gene therapy helps to restore the blood vessels of the heart
As part of a clinical study conducted by specialists from Baylor College of Medicine, Cornell University College of Medicine and Stony Brook University Medical Center, 31 patients with severe forms of coronary heart disease were injected with AdVEGF121 therapeutic adenovirus, which is a carrier of the angiogenesis factor gene, into the muscle tissue of the heart. 5 and 10 years after the procedure, the survival rates of these patients were not inferior or even superior to the survival rates of patients of other groups who received traditional drug treatment.
The generally accepted method of treatment of coronary heart disease is coronary artery bypass grafting, which ensures the movement of blood flow bypassing the affected or blocked region of the heart. However, often in patients with the last stages of ischemic disease, the blood vessels usually used as a shunt are too severely affected by the disease.
The study participants were divided into 2 groups. Group A underwent both traditional coronary artery bypass grafting and gene therapy, while group B underwent only gene therapy.
The 5- and 10-year survival rates of group A patients were 67% (10 out of 15) and 40% (6 out of 15), respectively; in group B – 69 and 31% (11 and 5 out of 16). 18 participants died for various reasons – ranging from malignant diseases to problems with with my heart.
For comparison, according to the data available in the literature, the maximum intensive therapy of patients of comparable groups provides a 5-year survival rate of about 59%.
According to the researchers, despite the fact that patients of both experimental groups had problems requiring additional medical interventions, such as revascularization of cardiac tissue and implantation of cardioverter defibrillators, in general, the results of therapy were better than could be expected without gene therapy. Apparently, gene therapy contributed to the restoration of damaged blood vessels in the heart tissue.
They also note the absence of undesirable side reactions. To date, long-term clinical studies of gene therapy, which have brought such encouraging results from the point of view of safety, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The next stage of the work will be an attempt to reproduce the results in a placebo-controlled study involving larger groups of patients.
Article by Todd K. Rosengart et al. A Long-Term Follow-up Assessment of a Phase 1 Trial of Angiogenic Gene Therapy Using Direct Intramyocardial Administration of an Adenoviral Vector Expressing the VEGF121 cDNA for the Treatment of Diffuse Coronary Artery Disease is published in the journal Human Gene Therapy.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Weill Cornell Medical College: Rebuilding Blood Vessels Through Gene Therapy.
09.01.2013