Can fat heal the heart?
telegraph.co.uk
A pioneering stem cell trial plans to find out, reports
An experiment to see if fat can actually be good for a diseased heart has seen the first patient receive an implant of stem cells isolated from their own fat tissue.
An image of the heart mapped in the lab indicating areas of damage
An image of the heart mapped in the lab indicating areas of damage
Around the world scientists are investigating the potential of stem cells - parent cells that have the potential to develop into other types to carry out repair and regeneration. In this case, the were stem cells implanted in damaged cardiac tissue to seed the growth of blood vessels to nourish the diseased heart.
The stem cells derived from the fat (adipose) tissue were used last week on a patient in the first trial of its kind on cardiovascular disease, carried out at the Hospital Gregorio Maranon in Madrid, Spain, by Prof Francisco Fernandez-Aviles and Dr Emerson Perin, director of the Stem Cell Centre at the Texas Heart Institute.
The first patient , aged 67, had a history of heart attacks. He "is doing well" and has now left the hospital. "These cells may be optimal for targeting cardiovascular disease due to their ability to promote blood vessel growth," said Dr. Perin. "This primary mode of action demonstrated in pre-clinical studies could result in significant clinical benefit."
The study will enrol 36 patients suffering from chronic myocardial ischaemia, a severe form of coronary artery disease, which is estimated to affect hundreds of thousands of patients in Europe and the United States.
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Patients in the study will receive their own adult stem and regenerative cells, thereby avoiding the risk of rejection or disease transmission that exists with donor stem cells and the controversy associated with embryonic stem cells.
Once introduced into a patient's heart, the hope is that the cells will help the body improve blood supply that can restore circulation to the heart. The results are expected by the middle of the year.
"Patients with chronic heart disease today have few options making this an important milestone for the affected patients and doctors that treat them," said Dr Marc Hedrick, President of Cytori Therapeutics, the company that developed a way to isolate the stem cells.
Surgeons
The image map enabled the surgeons to inject the stem cells directly into the areas of heart damage
"Our ultimate goal is to asses the clinical therapeutic effect of the cells, which were shown in preclinical studies to significantly improve heart function."
Before the transplant, adipose tissue is removed from the patient using a liposuction-like procedure, placed into the Cytori system and, with the touch of a button, processed. About an hour later, a prescribed dose of stem and regenerative cells are delivered to the patient.
The company is also studying the safety and feasibility of using adult stem cells from fat tissue in breast cancer patients for breast reconstruction, having implanted them in 11 patients so far. "Early data suggest that the procedure was safe and well tolerated and showed signs of efficacy in reversing some of the affects of radiation damage," said a Cytori spokesman, adding a larger trial is now planned in Europe. |
