Cord blood against heart failure
Heart failure can be treated with cord blood stem cells
Anna Kerman, XX2 century, based on Medical News Today: Heart failure could be treated using umbilical cord stem cells
With the help of cord blood stem cells, researchers improved the functioning of the heart muscle and the heart as a whole in patients with heart failure. This is the way to new methods of treatment without surgical interventions or other traumatic procedures.
The lead author of the study is Dr. Jorge Bartolucci, Professor of the University of the Andes (Universidad de los Andes, UANDES) in Santiago, Chile, co–author is Dr. Fernando Figueroa, professor of medicine at the same university.
Dr. Bartolucci and his colleagues conducted clinical trials. In the course of the study, two groups of patients were compared: in one group, patients received intravenous injections of cord blood stem cells, the other group received a placebo.
The results were published in the journal Circulation Research. Dr. Figueroa called them "encouraging." He said that cord blood stem cells can improve the survival rate of patients with heart failure, which is now very disappointing.
Within five years of diagnosis, half of the patients die, and after ten years, the survival rate is less than 30%. It is estimated that 26 million people suffer from heart failure in the world.
In heart failure, the heart muscles weaken and can no longer adequately supply the body with blood. The increase in the number of cases of this disease in the United States is alarming: 6.5 million people are suffering from heart failure now, and by 2030 the number of patients will grow by 46%.
The authors of the new work note that in previous studies, the use of stem cells derived from bone marrow was studied, but cord blood stem cells have not yet been tested.
Scientists add that this area of research is more promising, since the material is more accessible, does not cause ethical problems (unlike embryonic stem cells), and the patient's body is unlikely to give him a negative immune reaction.
Effective and safe treatment
Dr. Bartolucci and his team divided 30 patients aged 18 to 75 years into two groups: one received treatment, the second received a placebo.
All patients were diagnosed with heart failure, they were in stable condition and received the appropriate standard medications.
The researchers used stem cells that were obtained from umbilical cords separated from human placentas. Placentas for the study were provided by healthy mothers who gave birth on time by Caesarean section.
Scientists found that within a year after stem cell therapy, patients' hearts began to work better. Also, this treatment improved the quality of life of patients and improved overall well-being.
During therapy, no side effects or inflammatory reactions from the immune system were noted, despite the fact that an immune response often occurs in patients receiving blood transfusions.
According to the authors, the treatment proved to be "effective and safe", and also "significantly improved the function of the left ventricle, functional status and quality of life."
"The findings suggest [that such exposure] may affect clinical outcomes, which will pave the way for further testing in large clinical trials," the authors report.
The researchers believe that stem cell therapy will be very useful for patients with heart failure, especially compared to the types of treatment that are used today.
Dr. Bartolucci explains: "Standard drug treatment may not be enough to control the disease. Therefore, patients have to turn to therapy that requires surgical intervention, such as the installation of an auxiliary ventricular system or a heart transplant."
"Our findings are encouraging, as they may open the way for a new, non–traumatic, promising therapy for patients whose chances are not so great," says Dr. Fernando Figueroa.
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28.09.2017