Myocardial Infarction Stem-Cell Therapy To Restore Cardiac Function On The Horizon

2001 MAY 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Stem cells from mouse bone marrow can help repair muscle killed in heart attacks, researchers at New York Medical College have demonstrated.

Piero Anversa and colleagues reported their study in the April 5, 2001, issue of Nature.

The results are likely to raise the already high profile of adult stem cells as a valuable source of treatments for disease.

Bone marrow cells may be an ideal solution to the problem of replacing damaged hearts: they give rise to both heart muscle and blood vessels, can be harvested from the patient to prevent rejection, and adult stem cells avoid the ethical minefield of embryonic stem-cell use.

Anversa thinks that stem-cell therapy to restore heart function after heart attacks could be as little as three years away.

"Cardiac stem cells have been the Holy Grail of cardiovascular researchers working to find a way to replace damaged heart tissue," says Mark Sussman, of the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Piero Anversa can be contacted at tel: 1-914-594-4168; e-mail: piero_anversa@nymc.edu.

This article was prepared by Heart Disease Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2001, Heart Disease Weekly via NewsRx.com.