Researchers have transplanted precursor stem cells into the damaged heart muscle of pigs, repairing injured cells and improving heart function. The study may lead to a treatment that can regenerate heart muscle damaged by a lack of oxygen.
Cardiac ischemia occurs when the heart muscle is starved of oxygen. If it’s prolonged, ischemia can cause irreversible damage and heart failure, affecting the heart’s ability to pump effectively. The most common cause of cardiac ischemia is atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaques in the arteries. If an artery is blocked completely by a plaque, it results in a heart attack or myocardial infarction.
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Previous studies have looked at ways of reversing the heart muscle damage caused by ischemia, including transplanting human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), which are are immature cells that can renew themselves by dividing and differentiating into primary groups of cells that make up the human body. They can be used to create any cell or tissue needed.
Read more: New Atlas
