New therapy approach ‘can regenerate heart from within’

Scientists have devised a new therapy method that could be used to help the heart to repair its own damaged tissue following a coronary event.

A team from Liverpool John Moores University has collaborated with partners in Italy and Spain to create a method of stimulating the endogenous stem cells in the heart using growth factors IGF-1 and HGF, leading to regeneration of tissue.

According to data from the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, this regeneration is of an anatomically, histologically and physiologically significant level and could offer a new avenue for treatment.

Bernardo Nadal-Ginard, director of the university's stem cell and regenerative biology unit, said this could be significantly more effective than cellular therapy approaches that focus on the use of autologous stem cells.

The research has been welcomed by the British Heart Foundation, with medical director Professor Peter Weissberg suggesting it adds to the growing evidence that a "broken heart" can be repaired.