Researchers have discovered the human heart has the ability to repair itself after trauma, with a little kick-start.
Professor Olaf Bergmann from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said after severe heart failure, the ability of the heart to heal by forming new cells was very low.
However, Professor Bergmann said researchers had found that after receiving treatment with a supportive heart pump, the capacity of a damaged heart to repair itself with new muscle cells became significantly higher, even higher than in a healthy heart.
“The ability of the human heart to renew itself by regenerating its muscle cells, myocytes, is very limited.”
He said standard care for patients with advanced heart failure was a surgically implanted pump that helps propel blood, called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
“The researchers found that patients with such a heart pump, who have shown significant improvement in their heart function, can regenerate heart muscle cells at a rate more than six times higher than in healthy hearts.
“The results suggest that there might be a hidden key to kick-start the heart’s own repair mechanism.”
Professor Bergmann said the mechanism behind the effect was still unknown.
He said the findings open the possibility of developing new therapies for patients with serious heart conditions that stimulate the heart’s ability to repair itself after damage.
“This way, patients wouldn’t have to rely only on heart transplants or other kinds of long-term mechanical support.
“This offers some hope that the recovery after a heart incident can somehow be boosted.”
Read the full study: A Latent Cardiomyocyte Regeneration Potential in Human Heart Disease.
