WEDNESDAY, March 12, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Cells produced by bone marrow can form new heart muscle cells in adults.
That exciting news comes courtesy of a Mayo Clinic study published March 12 in the online isue of Circulation.
The finding is important because it provides new information to researchers trying to find ways to help the body replace heart muscle damaged by heart attack.
The Mayo researchers studied heart tissue samples from four women with leukemia who survived 35 to 600 days after receiving bone marrow transplants from male donors.
Using special staining techniques, the researchers found that a small portion of the women's heart muscle cells contained male genetic material that originated from male donor bone marrow.
This is the first study to confirm that progenitor cells from outside the heart are able to form new heart muscle cells. Progenitor cells are produced by bone marrow and circulate in the blood. Progenitor cells are similar to stem cells in that they have the potential to develop into various kinds of cells.
This study shows that, given the right biological signals, these progenitor cells can become new heart cells.
This isn't the first study to find a connection between bone marrow and heart muscle regeneration. A British study released last November found that injecting bone marrow into the scarred pumps of heart attack victims can reverse the damage and make the contracting muscle function better.
Until recently, the heart has been viewed as an organ that can't be healed after suffering heart-attack damage.
More information
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