Heart Scarring Experiments Starting

Heart Scarring Experiments Starting

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports that the University of Rochester is one of 17 sites in the US researching the use of stem cells after heart attacks to see if they can reduce scarring. The lead investigator is in the Cardiology Department at Johns Hopkins University; the trial is being funded by Osiris Therapeutics. The stem cells to be used are mesenchymal stem cells derived from the bone marrow of volunteers; the article says that the body will not reject the stem cells because “the cells haven't developed properties, such as a blood type, that would identify them with one body over another.” (I blogged yesterday on Mesoblast’s similar trials to confirm this.)

It is a Phase I safety study, but researchers plan to monitor patients’ heart for 2 years to see what scarring has occurred. The initial trial will have only 48 participants; if it is successful, a much larger Phase II study would take place.

Prior studies have had mixed results. (See Blog posts of 11/17/05 and 11/14/05.)