Transplanting monkey stem cells successfully cured heart disease

Scientists in Japan have used cardiac muscle cells derived from a monkey's stem cells to treat the sick hearts of five other monkeys.

This achievement is increasingly proving the effectiveness of using stem cells from heart donors to recover at the same time many sick hearts of other patients. This promises to significantly reduce time and cost when compared with conventional methods.

Therapy using stem cells to treat heart problems is not entirely new. But in the previous stage, this technique had to take cells from patients who needed to be treated, so it would be very expensive.

In addition, stem cells can be obtained from human embryos. However, this method is controversial because the embryo could be destroyed.

Monkeys with heart disease are now healthy again.(Image source: sciencealert).

If these new techniques are proven by researchers at Shinshu University in Japan, we will be able to overcome the inadequacies when used in stem cell therapy. future. By developing a reserve stem cell resource from donors, stem cell banks will be willing to help many patients at the same time.

"A stem cell bank will be able to support many patients with very fast time. In the old method, patients need to take out their own cells, cultivate and wait for them to complete the process. cell division , " said researcher Sian Harding from the Royal College of London at British Imperial College London in England.

In this study, researchers created an almighty stem cell taken from a monkey's skin cell. They then injected the cells into damaged areas in the hearts of five other monkeys who had experienced at least one heart attack.

Of course, one of the risks of using donor cells is that the recipient's body rejects and proceeds to eliminate it through an immune response. To address the risk of rejection, researchers used a protein created by the immune system called complex tissue compatible cells (MHC).

"In addition to daily treatment with methylprednisolone and tacrolimus immunosuppressants , we combined MHC injections so that the immune system can identify foreign stem cells," said one of the houses. Research, Mr. Yuji Shiba said.

After monitoring monkeys receiving stem cells over a 12-week period, the scientists found that they showed no signs of eliminating cells and diseased hearts improved the ability to contract. forward.

However, there is a noticeable side effect. These monkeys appear an abnormal increase in heart rate. This condition is called arrhythmia . But the team said they believed the condition did not pose any serious health risks.