Cell Therapy for Heart Disease

Applied Genetics News,  May, 1999  

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Researchers from Genzyme General ((One Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA 02139-1563; Tel: 617/252-7500, Fax: 617/374-7368) and Toronto General Hospital are demonstrating the potential of cell-based therapy in the treatment of heart disease. Recent results from their collaborative study were presented by Ren-Ke Li, a member of the Toronto Group. A myocardial infarction (heart attack) was created in each of 18 adult pigs. At the time of the infection, healthy cells were removed from the ventricle region and placed in culture, where they were expanded for four weeks. The researches then injected the cultured cells into the damaged region of the heart in twelve of the pig. The remaining pigs received an injection of culture medium only. A month after transplantation, the researchers observed improved motion, thickening in the ventricle wall, as well as improved blood flow in the damaged cardiac region in the transplanted pigs. No such improvement was noted in the control group. The ejection fraction--a measure of cardiac function--improved in the transplant group, but not in the control group. The pigs that received the cell transplant were also more active and gained more weight than those in the control group.

No approved therapies currently exist for restoring function to damaged heart tissue. Transplantation of heart cells into the scar tissue that forms following a heart attack may strengthen the heart and improve function, preventing or delaying heart failure.

"While these are early-stage results, they represent important progress in our cardiovascular cell therapy program," says Earl M. Collier, president of Genzyme Surgical Products. "We are moving forward with our cell transplantation pre- clinical development program and plan to initiate human clinical trials in early 2001." Dr. Li also discussed the development of an autologous bioengineered cardiac grafts formed from juvenile rat cardiac cells seeded into a gelatin mesh. Such grafts are being studied with the aim of treating congenital heart defects.

Currently available grafts lack the ability to grow or contract, and can lead to blood clots.

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