Researchers from the University of Sydney, the Baird Institute and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney have found that the human heart can produce new muscle cells after a heart attack. The discovery challenges the long-held assumption that heart muscle lost during an attack cannot regenerate and could eventually help scientists develop new treatments for cardiovascular disease. The findings were published in Circulation Research.
Robert Hume, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health and Charles Perkins Centre, and Lead of Translational Research at the Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Research, explained why the result could be important. Human Hearts Can Produce New Muscle Cells "Until now we've thought that, because heart cells die after a heart attack, those areas of the heart were irreparably damaged, leaving the heart less able to pump blood to the body's organs. "Our research shows that while the heart is left scarred after a heart attack, it produces new muscle cells, which opens up new possibilities.
"Although this new discovery of regrowing muscle cells is exciting, it isn't enough to prevent the devastating effects of a heart attack. Therefore, in time, we hope to develop therapies that can amplify the heart's natural ability to produce new cells and regenerate the heart after an attack." Scientists had previously seen increased mitosis (a process in which cells divide and reproduce) in the heart muscles of mice following a heart attack. The new research is the first to demonstrate the same phenomenon in humans.
The heart's natural regenerative response is not currently strong enough to replace all of the muscle destroyed during a heart attack. However, understanding how this process works could help researchers find ways to increase it. The Lasting Damage Caused by Heart Attacks Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide.
In Australia, it accounts for nearly a quarter (24 percent) of all deaths. A heart attack can destroy as many as one third of the cells in the human heart. Although advances in treatment have dramatically improved survival over the past decade, surviving the initial attack does not always prevent serious long-term consequences.
Many patients eventually develop heart failure, a condition in which the heart can no longer pump blood effectively enough to meet the body's needs. A heart transplant is currently the only cure for heart failure. That option is available to only a small fraction of patients.
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