Weak hearts saved by stem cell injections

A failing heart can be rejuvenated by injections of stem cells from the patient's own bone marrow, research has revealed.

The new treatment involves taking stem cells from an individual's bone marrow and injecting them into the heart.

Doctors found the technique transformed the health of people desperately ill with end-stage heart failure, which occurs when a damaged heart cannot pump enough blood to serve the body's needs. It often happens after heart attacks, and can mean a long slow death sentence. About a million people in Britain are thought to be suffering from heart failure.

Animal studies have shown that certain stem cells from the bone marrow can turn into heart muscle. Stem cell transplants in animals have improved heart function and blood flow. Researchers from the United States and Brazil ran a trial to see if the same results could be repeated in patients. A total of 14 Brazilians with heart failure received an average of 15 injections containing about two million stem cells each. Seven other patients served as a comparison, or control, group.

Dr James Willerson, president of the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston, whose team took part in the study, said: "These patients were desperately ill. They had a relatively high risk of dying, and had no other forms of therapy available because their heart failure was so severe."

After two months, the treated patients had significantly less heart failure and angina, and were more able to pump blood than the untreated patients. The treated group also did better on treadmill tests. After four months, they were showing a sustained improvement in pumping power and the ability to supply blood to the body.

"Rapid track" results from the study were published today in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Rapid track papers are released online early because they have a big clinical impact or involve important basic science discoveries.

The scientists said they were unsure why the patients showed such improvement. "Either these stem cells became new blood vessel and new heart muscle cells, or their presence stimulated the development of one or both," said Dr Willerson.

None of the treated patients had serious problems such as sustained irregular heart rhythms or heart attacks during or soon after the procedure. All went home after three days.

One treated patient and one control patient died during the trial but their families refused permission for post-mortem tests to find the cause of death. Dr Willerson said much larger studies were needed to identify the benefits and risks of the treatment.

The scientists plan to look for other types of adult stem cell that might help heart failure patients. They also intend to explore the possibility of using stem cells to deliver new genes to failing hearts. "We are working on that in the lab," Dr Willerson said.

¿ British scientists said yesterday they had made a breakthrough in finding a permanent treatment for malaria.

A team from Edinburgh University claims it has identified the element in the make-up of the parasite responsible for the disease which enables it to become quickly resistant to new treatments. The property has severely hampered efforts by drug companies to develop a vaccine.

Researchers at the university's Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology have been working with scientists at the Biotec Institute in the Thai capital, Bangkok, to study the protein responsible.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Structural Biology, could have a major impact on treating the disease, which kills one African child every 30 seconds.

Scientists say the key lies in a protein called DHFR, which the parasite produces to keep itself alive.