Heart Attack treatment: take capsulated stem cells
Therapy of heart diseases with stem cells is already used in clinical practice, but the effect obtained in this case can be called moderate at best. One of the reasons for this is the fact that the injected cells either do not linger in the heart tissue, or die soon after administration.
Cardiologists from Emory University propose a solution to this problem, which consists in packing cells into capsules made of a gel-like substance known as alginate. In this form, the cells remain in the heart tissue, releasing the factors they synthesize for a long time.
As part of their experiment, the authors, working under the guidance of Professor Robert Taylor, simulated a heart attack in male immunodeficient rats, after which they divided them into 5 groups that differed in the type of therapy. A polyethylene glycol gel was applied to the surface of the heart of animals in the infarction zone; a gel containing empty alginate capsules; a gel containing human mesenchymal stem cells of bone marrow origin and a gel containing capsules with cells enclosed in them. One group of animals was not treated and was used as a control group.
Mesenchymal stem cells in alginate capsules
(a snapshot from an article in J Am Heart Assoc.)A survey conducted 28 days after the procedure showed that in control group rats, as well as in animals that were not injected with stem cells, the left ventricular ejection fraction decreased from 72% to 34%.
In rats that were injected with non-encapsulated cells, there was a slight improvement, their expulsion fraction was 39%. At the same time, in animals treated with encapsulated cells, this indicator reached 56%.
Moreover, the rats injected with encapsulated cells were characterized by smaller scar sizes, as well as a greater number of newly formed blood vessels in the infarction zone.
The alginate proposed for cell encapsulation is not only widely used in cooking, but is also used in the production of wound dressings, as well as for taking dental casts. Moreover, a clinical trial is already underway in which pancreatic beta cells encapsulated in alginate are implanted in patients with diabetes mellitus.
Encapsulation prevents the integration of mesenchymal stem cells into the heart muscle and their replacement of dead cardiomyocytes. However, according to the authors, this is not their task. Instead, the implanted cells are able to synthesize hormones and growth factors that promote the regeneration of blood vessels.
The capsules used in the study decompose in the body within 10 days. In the near future, the authors plan to conduct similar experiments with other materials.
Article by R. D. Levit et al. Cellular Encapsulation Enhances Cardiac Repair is published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Emory Health Sciences:
Packaging stem cells in capsules for heart therapy.
17.10.2013