RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Infusing patients
with bone marrow cells can reinvigorate their
dying hearts and grow tiny new arteries and heart
muscle tissue, a treatment that may one day make
many heart transplants unnecessary, Brazilian
researchers said on Friday.
Dr. Hans Fernando Dohmann, coordinator of the
research carried out at the Pro-Cardiac Hospital
in Rio de Janeiro, told Reuters four patients
out of the five studied no longer needed transplants
after being treated with stem cells.
"It was the first time we saw that stem cells
actually generate new arterioles, although we
have indirectly observed that before via tests.
That eliminated the need for transplants in four
patients who had had indisputable transplant indications,"
he said.
The experiment, to be detailed to a weekend meeting
of heart researchers and submitted to the journal
Circulation, adds to a growing body of research
that suggests such treatments can someday avoid
the need for many transplants.
When one patient died of a stroke after 11 months
of treatment, Dohmann's team was able to do an
autopsy and actually look at what had happened
to his heart.
They could see the tiny new arteries in the treated
area and also saw what looked like new muscle
tissue.
"This is the first documented development
of cardiac muscle tissue in humans ... while the
accepted concept is that cardiac muscle cells,
just like nerve cells, do not regenerate,"
Dohmann said.
He said his team would continue testing other
patients.
"But this one leaves us quite convinced,
as we have real proof that is a human heart,"
he said.
Dohmann's team treated 14 patients with bone marrow
cells between December 2001 and late 2003. Seven
other patients in the control group were treated
with conventional methods, and doctors said their
recovery was not as good.
During the period, two deaths occurred in the
stem cell group and one death in the smaller control
group, which did not receive the stem-cell treatment.
The research was carried out jointly with the
Texas Heart Institute, which designed the stem
cell injector, and with the Rio de Janeiro Federal
University.
Bone marrow is a rich source of adult stem cells,
which are blood cells that retain the capacity
to grow into a range of cells including white
blood cells, blood vessel cells and heart cells.
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