The adult heart contains cardiac stem cells which can differentiate to become myocytes (heart muscle cells that contract when the heart beats), blood vessel cells and the muscle cells found in the blood vessels. They can also continue to divide and replicate to restore the cardiac stem cells.
Damaged heart tissue can lead to heart failure. This means that the hearts cannot pump enough blood around the body.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School studied heart tissue repair after stem cell replication and injection in a study funded by The University of Louisville Research Foundation and the US National Institutes of Health.
Participants who had experienced a heart attack were chosen and their heart function of 40% or less than 40%. They all had scarring on their heart tissue and had all received a type of operation called a heart artery bypass graft (blood vessels are grafted around clogged and narrowed arteries in the heart to help maintain healthy blood flow). During the surgery a 1g sample of healthy heart tissue was extracted. The stem cells were grown in a laboratory until the researchers had 1 million cells and then they were injected into the damaged area of the heart. All participants were also asked to complete a questionnaire to see how their condition affected their quality of life and scans were taken.
After a year there was a 12% increase on average in the pumping capacity of the heart and a decrease in size of the damaged area.
Summary from: http://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/families/news/Stem_cells_may_aid_heart_repair.nhschoices.e9b7c15e-133f-4503-ae1d-ebd71a7a754b/ and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8888447/Heart-repair-with-stem-cells-biggest-breakthrough-in-a-generation.html
This can mean a major cause of deaths around the world could be prevented or, at least, life prolonged.
