Scientists have learned about the heart's ability to repair muscle tissue after a heart attack
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- Scientists have learned about the heart's ability to repair muscle tissue after a heart attack
For the first time, scientists have discovered signs of natural recovery of the heart muscle after a heart attack in humans. Researchers from the University of Sydney, the Baird Institute and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital have found that the heart is able to produce new muscle cells even after damage. Why the discovery can change the understanding of heart repair and help in the creation of new treatment methods — in the material of Izvestia.
The human heart is capable of producing new muscle cells
Researchers have discovered that the human heart can produce new heart muscle cells after a heart attack. The results of the work are published in the journal Circulation Research. The discovery casts doubt on the widespread notion that the heart muscle that died during a heart attack is incapable of recovery.
After a heart attack, some of the heart cells die, and the damaged area remains scarred. Because of this, the heart can pump blood to the organs worse. However, a new study has shown that even after scar formation, the heart retains the ability to produce new muscle cells.
Conclusions of the study authors
Until now, we believed that because heart cells die after a heart attack, these areas of the heart are irreparably damaged, as a result of which the heart becomes less able to pump blood to the organs of the body.
According to the study, although the heart remains scarred after a heart attack, it produces new muscle cells. According to scientists, although the new discovery makes it possible to repair muscle cells, this is still not enough to prevent the devastating effects of a heart attack. In the future, the authors hope to develop treatments that can enhance the heart's natural ability to produce new cells and regenerate the heart after a heart attack.
Previously, scientists had observed an increase in mitosis, the process by which cells divide and reproduce, in the heart muscle of mice after a heart attack. The new work was the first to demonstrate a similar process in humans.
Natural regeneration is not enough to fully recover
Despite the ability of the heart muscle to produce new cells, this natural process is still too weak to replace all the tissue destroyed during a heart attack. Therefore, the detected regeneration by itself is not able to prevent the severe consequences of heart damage.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the world. In Australia, they account for almost a quarter of all deaths — 24%. A heart attack can kill up to a third of the cells of the human heart.
The development of treatment methods over the past decade has significantly increased survival after a heart attack. However, an attack does not always mean full recovery: many patients subsequently develop heart failure, a condition in which the heart can no longer effectively pump blood in accordance with the body's needs.
Currently, heart transplantation remains the only way to treat heart failure. But this option is available only to a small part of patients. About 144,000 people live with heart failure in Australia, while approximately 115 heart transplants are performed annually. Thus, there remains a significant gap between the number of patients who could benefit from a transplant and the number of available donor organs.
The living tissue of the heart will help to find ways to regenerate it.
An important part of the study was a new approach to studying the human heart: scientists used tissue samples obtained from living patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The patients who agreed to participate underwent such operations at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, and the researchers took samples from both affected and undamaged areas of the heart.
The technique of tissue sampling was developed by Professor Paul Bannon. By obtaining tissue from a living heart, scientists have been able to study its biology in a laboratory model that can more accurately reflect the processes occurring directly in patients.
The researchers hope that the new model will help to understand how the heart produces new muscle cells and how this natural process can be enhanced. This approach could potentially become the basis for the development of therapies that can stimulate the repair of damaged heart muscle.
Sean Lal, the study's lead author from the School of Medical Sciences and a cardiologist specializing in heart failure at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Ultimately, the goal is to use this discovery to create new heart cells capable of reversing heart failure. Using models of the living tissue of the human heart in our work will allow us to obtain more accurate and reliable data for the development of new treatments for heart diseases.
According to him, studies using samples have already identified several proteins that are involved in heart regeneration in mice. The professor called it a promising prospect that can be transferred to humans.
The discovered proteins may give scientists clues on how to stimulate the damaged human heart to produce more muscle cells. Such treatments are still promising, but a new study provides direct evidence that the adult heart has at least some natural ability to repair muscle tissue after a heart attack.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
