New York, Dec 22 (NationPress) Heart muscle can regenerate after failure in some individuals with artificial hearts, as discovered by an international research team.
This team, co-led by a physician-scientist from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Sarver Heart Center in the US, found that a specific group of artificial heart patients possesses the ability to regenerate heart muscle. This breakthrough could potentially lead to innovative treatments and, possibly, a cure for heart failure.
Currently, there is no definitive cure for heart failure, although medications can help slow its progression. The primary intervention for advanced heart failure, aside from a transplant, is the replacement of the heart pump with an artificial device known as a left ventricular assist device, which aids the heart in pumping blood.
“Skeletal muscle has a remarkable capacity to regenerate after an injury. For instance, if you tear a muscle while playing soccer, resting is essential for its healing,” stated Hesham Sadek, chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Medicine.
“In contrast, when a heart muscle sustains damage, it does not regenerate. We currently lack methods to reverse the loss of heart muscle,” Sadek remarked in an article published in the journal Circulation.
Sadek spearheaded a collaboration among international experts to explore the potential for heart muscle regeneration.
The initiative commenced with tissue samples from artificial heart patients, provided by colleagues at the University of Utah Health and School of Medicine, under the guidance of Stavros Drakos, a leading figure in research concerning left ventricular assist device-mediated recovery.
The researchers discovered that individuals with artificial hearts regenerated muscle cells at a rate exceeding six times that of healthy hearts.
“This represents the most compelling evidence to date that human heart muscle cells can indeed regenerate, which is exhilarating, as it reinforces the concept that the human heart has an inherent capacity for regeneration,” Sadek expressed.
This finding also lends strong support to the theory that the heart muscle's inability to ‘rest’ significantly contributes to its diminished regenerative abilities shortly after birth. The study's authors suggest that targeting the molecular pathways involved in cell division could enhance the heart’s regeneration capacity.
