Human heart regrows muscle cells after heart attack

IN a world-first discovery, scientists in Australia have found that the human heart can regrow muscle cells after a heart attack, raising hopes for future regenerative treatments for heart failure, reported Xinhua.

The study, published in Circulation Research, revealed that while parts of the heart remain scarred after a heart attack, new muscle cells are also generated, a phenomenon previously seen only in mice and now demonstrated in humans for the first time, according to a statement from Australia's University of Sydney on Tuesday.

"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.

"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," said Robert Hume, research fellow at the University of Sydney and first author of the study.

The team made the breakthrough using living heart tissue samples collected from patients undergoing bypass surgery at Australia's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

"Ultimately, the goal is to use this discovery to make new heart cells that can reverse heart failure," said Professor Sean Lal, the study's senior author and heart failure cardiologist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Cardiovascular disease remains the world's leading cause of death, and heart attacks can eliminate a third of the cells in the human heart, researchers said, adding that the discovery offers promising groundwork for novel regenerative medicine. - BERNAMA-XINHUA