Hearts that have suffered a heart attack may be repaired by using stem cells derived from the patient's own, according to scientists at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh who have shown success using human skeletal muscle cells to treat a mouse model of myocardial infarction.
The transplanted stem cells stimulated the growth of new blood vessels in the heart and reduced the formation of scar tissue at the injury site and thereby dramatically improved the function of the injured left ventricule of the heart.
"This study confirms our belief that this novel population of steam cells discovered in our laboratory holds tremendous promise for the future of regenerative medicine", said Dr. Johhny Huard, who is also the Henry J. Mankin Professor and vice chair for Musculoskeletal Cellular Therapeutics in the Department of Ortopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Stem cells from muscle tissue could also be used for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a horrible disease that affects one in every 3,500 boys, caused by a lack of the protein dystrophin.
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