Bone marrow cells regenerate heart muscle

Bone marrow cells (BMCs) transplanted into damaged areas of the heart reduce the amount of damage and improve heart function. Previous studies have suggested that BMCs may regenerate damaged heart muscle when given soon after a heart attack. However, this is the first study to examine the cells' potential in hearts damaged in the past. Researchers from the Heinrich-Heine - University in Dusseldorf, Germany, recruited 18 patients who had experienced a heart attack (on an average 27 months before). The patients' own BMCs, retrieved the day before, were infused into the damaged heart muscle. According to the findings there were no complications of the procedure during follow-up. Three months later, the size of the damaged area of the heart was reduced by 30 percent and heart pumping ability had improved considerably. A comparison group of 18 patients with similar heart problems who weren't given BMCs, showed no significant changes in damage size or pumping ability during follow-up. The findings strongly support regeneration of muscle cells as the basis for the improvement in function. The most plausible mechanisms for the improvement are the differentiation of BMCs into heart muscle cells, or activation of nearby cells that have the potential to become heart muscle cells. If cardiac regeneration is possible, the stem cell revolution will prove to be one of the most significant, if not the most significant, conceptual and therapeutic advances in cardiovascular medicine.