Stem cell therapy ‘can enhance cardiac repair process’

A new study has highlighted the potential benefits of using stem cell therapy as a means of treating patients following heart attacks.

Conducted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the research revealed that delivering stem cell factor (SCF) directly into damaged heart muscle after a heart attack may help repair and regenerate injured tissue.

A novel SCF gene transfer delivery system was used to induce the recruitment and expansion of adult c-Kit positive cardiac stem cells to injury sites, helping to reverse heart attack damage. The gene therapy also improved cardiac function and the regeneration of heart tissue blood vessels, while decreasing heart muscle cell death and the formation of heart tissue scarring.

Dr Roger Hajjar, senior study author and director of the cardiovascular research centre at Mount Sinai, said: "There is evidence that recruiting this small group of stem cells to the heart could be the basis of novel therapies for halting the clinical deterioration in patients with advanced heart failure."

Heart attacks are one of the most common reasons why a person requires emergency medical treatment, with around 50,000 men and 32,000 women having a heart attack each year in England.