Researchers stimulate self-healing in heart attack

Researchers stimulate self-healing after heart attacks

09/06/2011

Heart muscle cells damaged by myocardial infarction may be restored by the administration of a particular protein. This is the result of a study by British researchers led by Paul Riley of University College London and Nicola Smart of the Institute of Child Health, London, in the current online pre-release version of the journal „Nature“ has been published.

The British researchers have succeeded in stimulating the self-healing powers in mice so that the damaged heart muscle cells were restored after a heart attack. By administering a particular protein, the cells in the adult heart muscle of mice began to transform into cardiomyocytes, Nicola Smart and colleagues report. The researchers hope to improve the procedure in the future so that even in humans after a heart attack, the damaged heart muscle can be regenerated.

Protein stimulates self-healing after heart attacks
In a heart attack, muscle tissue of the pump organ dives and then has to be transformed by the organism into a stable scar, so that the functioning of the vital organ is still guaranteed. Most damage to the heart muscle cells remain. Two-thirds of the surviving heart attack patients, according to the British researchers have damage to the heart muscle, which bring about a permanent impairment of the power of the heart. However, Nicola Smart's British researchers have now for the first time succeeded in curing the adult pump organ in mice after a heart attack by administering a specific protein. As part of their study, the scientists administered mice with the protein thymosin beta-4 before and after a heart attack, which is known to support the growth of new blood vessels in the pump organ. With the help of the protein, the cells in the mature heart muscle of mice could be made to transform into cardiomyocytes, the researchers from the Institute of Child Health report. Overall, the mice treated with the protein thymosin beta-4 had significantly less damage to the heart than the untreated animals, explained Nicola Smart and colleagues.

New heart attack therapy still far away
Although the results of the British researchers seem promising at first glance, using the method in the treatment of heart attack patients is still a long way off. Because with the help of the protein thymosin beta-4, the researchers were able to cure the cardiac muscle cells of the mice. However, significantly less new cardiomyocytes have been designed to be successful in humans, in order to avoid possible limitations in the performance of the heart. Nicola Smart and colleagues pointed out that the transformation process of cells has not been very effective so far, and therefore further substances need to be researched to support the self-healing process after a heart attack. Only when the effectiveness of the protein thymosin beta-4 can be significantly increased, offer the method as new infarction therapy in humans, so the conclusion of the British scientists. Paul Riley of University College London added: „We have shown that it could be possible to repair hearts damaged by an infarct.“ The study leader hopes that this process could help in the future, „develop new therapies for heart failure.“

Different proteins determine the self-healing of the heart
In the healing processes after a cardiac infarction, different proteins are of particular importance for the chances of success. At the beginning of May, researchers from the Max Planck Institute and the Hannover Medical School (MHH) presented a study examining the relationship between the release of the protein GDF-15 and the healing processes after a heart attack. The researchers discovered „a completely new mechanism by which the body prevents excessive inflammatory reactions“ and thus the best possible healing of the heart muscle possible. For through the vital organ, blood must also be pumped continuously during the healing process. Possible inflammation could lead to life-threatening tears in the tissue when the heart muscle is under stress, so that the inflammatory reaction in the body must urgently be regulated. According to the experts of the Max Planck Institute and the Hannover Medical School (MHH), the protein GDF-15 ensures this. The researchers had their study results in early May in the journal „Nature Medicine“ released. (Fp)

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