מתוך medicontext.co.il
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Results of a study of transplanted hearts, published in the January 3rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, show that primitive host cells migrate into the donor tissue.
Furthermore, these cells are not confined to a specific region of the heart, but rather migrate to where they are needed, study author Dr. Piero Anversa, from the New York Medical College in Valhalla, and colleagues note.
Dr. Anversa's team analyzed eight female donor hearts that were transplanted into male recipients. Six male hearts and four female hearts, that were not transplanted, served as controls.
The researchers found that 7% to 10% of myocytes, coronary arterioles, and capillaries in the donor hearts contained a Y chromosome.
Cells that expressed stem-cell-related antigens, such as c-kit, MDR1, or Sca-1, were more abundant in the ventricles of transplanted hearts than in those of control hearts. These primitive cells were more common in the atria than in the ventricle, and 12% to 16% of these cells contained a Y chromosome.
The researchers conclude that a large number of primitive cells migrate from the recipient into the grafted heart. These primitive cells were also found in control hearts, but they were more abundant in transplanted hearts, the researchers state.
In a related editorial, Dr. Roberto Bolli, from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, comments that the findings provide "incontrovertible evidence that endogenous mechanisms exist that result in the formation of new myocardium in the adult human heart." This finding is a "striking departure" from the widely held belief that cardiac tissue cannot be regenerated, he adds.
"The findings…may have broad implications for a host of disorders…in which the ability to harness the regenerative potential of the heart could offer a novel treatment for the loss of functional myocardium," Dr. Bolli states.
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