Stem cell therapy is effective in treating heart failure
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Stem cell therapy in the treatment of patients with grade III and IV cardiac insufficiency showed good prospects in preventing serious complications and death.
Australian company Mesoblast Ltd stated that stem cell therapy was safe in the treatment of heart failure and could reduce the risk of serious complications such as myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, within one year by 78% compared to patients who received standard treatment.
Results of the study, conducted with the participation of 60 patients, are presented at the conference of the American Heart Association in Orlando.
"It's extremely surprising and truly incredible that this therapy was able to reduce the risk of death and serious complications of heart failure during a three-year follow-up period," said Dr. Emerson Perin, a study author at the Texas Institute in Houston.
"If the results demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment in a larger study, we think that we have every chance of approving stem cell therapy at the legislative level," Perin stated.
Representatives of Mesoblast and its partner Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plan to begin registering patients for the Phase III clinical study in the first half of next year.
Safety is the main objective of this study. Throughout the study, no cases of the side effects of stem cell treatment have been reported, according to representatives of Mesoblast.
How was the treatment with stem cells?
Researchers have studied stem cells from numerous sources for more than a decade, with the hope that their ability to transform into a wide variety of other cell types could help in the treatment of many types of diseases, from spinal trauma to heart disease.
Mesoblast uses stem cells derived from the bone marrow, known as mesenchymal progenitor cells. The cells are delivered directly to the heart with a catheter, where they stimulate the growth of blood vessels.
Since cells are extracted from an unrelated donor, patients need to determine the absence of antibody production to transplants.
None of the patients with heart failure who received cells showed excessive sensitivity or a significant level of antibodies to the cells, so that no significant immune response was seen.
Patients who participated in the study had moderate and severe heart failure, in which the heart muscle had a reduced ability to pump blood. The ejection fraction was less than 40%, whereas in a healthy person it should be greater than 55%.
As a result of stem cell therapy, scientists did not record a significant improvement in the ejection fraction, but there was a tendency to improve the six-minute walk test, which is a sign that patients felt better.
The scientists tested three doses or cell concentrations - 25 million cells, 75 million cells and 150 million cells on 15 patients in each group. The study involved 15 additional patients receiving standard treatment for heart failure. Based on the results of Phase II of the study, the companies said that they expect to extend the test at a dose of 150 million cells.
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