Cell-derived therapy may help repair abnormal heart rhythms

The research, published in the European Heart Journal, could lead to a new approach to treating heart rhythm problems known as ventricular arrhythmias -- the leading cause of sudden cardiac death

Repair damaged heart

After myocardial infarction damages tissue, ventricular arrhythmias can occur, causing confusion in the electrical patterns in the lower chambers of the heart

Current treatments for ventricular arrhythmias caused by heart attacks are far from ideal

"Ablation is a counterintuitive approach because you're destroying the heart muscle of an already fragile heart," said Eugenio Cingolani, MD,

With that in mind, the team tried a different approach in lab pigs that had experienced heart attacks

cdc was first developed and described by Dr.

One group of pigs had CDC-derived exosomes injected into their hearts, while the other group received a placebo

"Exosomes reduce the amount of scar tissue that forms in the injured area of ​​the heart, normalizing the heart rhythm without weakening the heart," said study co-author Dr.

Animals were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cardiac electrical stability testing

a new therapy

In an editorial published in the same issue of the European Heart Journal, Yale University's Marine Cacheux, PhD, and Fadi G.

The researchers plan to conduct more studies

"More research is needed to know that the benefits observed in this study persisted for longer periods of time," said James F.

Funding: This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health under grant numbers 1K01HL133510-01A1, R01HL135866 and R01HL14750

Journal Reference :

1. James F.