Treating a heart attack in advance: prenatal cell therapy
Mice injected with embryonic stem cells at an early stage of embryonic development tolerate myocardial damage better and recover faster as adult animals. The work, published in the journal Stem Cells, for the first time demonstrated the possibilities of preventive use of regenerative cell therapy in the treatment of myocardial infarction.
Led by Dr. Andre Terzic, researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (Minnesota, USA), using labeled embryonic stem cells, have shown that from 5 to 20% of the injected cells are successfully incorporated into the myocardium. Newborn mice had no abnormalities and had the same risk factor for developing heart disease as the control group animals. The characteristics of the heart function in animals of both groups did not differ during the first year of life.
The matured mice, in the way generally accepted in such studies – with the help of ligation of the left anterior artery – were given an imitation of a massive heart attack, completely stopping blood access to the heart muscle for a time sufficient for its damage to begin. In animals of the experimental group, which were injected with ESC during intrauterine development, the functions of the heart were fully restored some time after the resumption of blood supply to the myocardium. The animals of the control group developed typical consequences of myocardial ischemia: ischemic cardiomyopathy, scarring of the heart muscle and congestion in the lungs. In addition, mice who received a stem cell injection before birth recovered faster after a heart attack, were able to tolerate significant physical exertion and stress, and had better survival rates.
According to the authors, it is the prenatal administration of ESCs that can become the predominant strategy in the prevention of diseases of vital organs. For the first time, prenatal therapy was used about 30 years ago for the treatment of congenital malformations and has proven itself well. The current study opens up new prospects for this method in the development and application of innovative techniques for the preventive therapy of a number of diseases.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of PhysOrg: Stem cell transplant in mouse embryo yields heart protection in adulthood18.05.2009