Bone Marrow Stem Cells Help Hearts Again

Bone Marrow Stem Cells Help Hearts Again

German scientists have reported at the American Heart Association meeting that patients who were injected with their own bone-marrow progenitor stem cells had improved ventricular function. The findings have not yet been presented in a peer-reviewed journal. The story is reported on Med Page Today. 5.5 % of patients improved their global left ventricular function compared to 3% of patients who received placebos; patients who were injected with the stem cells at least 5 days after myocardial infarction had a 7% improvement in left-ventricular ejection function compared with a 1.9% improvement in placebo patients. The improvement was more significant in patients who had sustained greater heart damage. The study enrolled approximately 200 patients. American scientists at the conference urged some caution in viewing the results, as they have not yet been peer-reviewed, but noted that the study was well-designed.

A Reuters version of the story was also reported on ABC News On-line (Australian Broadcasting). Forbes also picked up the Health Day wire story, which discusses the difference between stem cells and progenitor cells (progenitor cells have begun to differentiate), and pointed out that this research is enough to begin larger studies.

See Blog post of 10/27/05, Bone Marrow Stem Cells Heal Hearts, for information on a smaller German study which has been published in a scientific journal and had similar results. This continues to look like great news for people who have sustained heart damage, although of course not everyone will be in good enough health to endure the bone marrow extraction. One of the other issues is getting enough stem cells, so let’s hope the methods for that improve as well.