Cardiovascular diseases and heart complications constitute the major cause of disability and death worldwide. The three primary heart disorders associated with the loss of cardiac function include cardiac insufficiency (heart failure), heart attack, and mitral valve prolapse. Despite major advances in cardiac medicine and surgery, the majority of currently available heart therapies focus on easing symptoms or providing palliative support – rather than correcting the underlying damage and repairing cardiac tissue loss. Recently, a few cardiac treatments have evolved that offer direct tissue repair, cell regeneration, limiting scar formation, and improving myocardial function.
Stem cell therapy is emerging as an alternative, novel and promising option that involves the transplantation of healthy and functional cardiac cells to treat cardiovascular conditions and repair damaged tissue. The first cell type used in studies and clinical investigations were bone marrow precursor cells. Nowadays, various populations of stem cells are being used to treat and rejuvenate damaged cardiac tissue. Here’s how stem cell therapy can potentially treat different cardiovascular diseases.
Cardiac insufficiency means a reduced function of cardiac muscles. The prominent signs and symptoms of systolic, right-sided heart failure (HF) and left-sided heart failure include shortness of breath, fatigue or weakness, swelling of legs, and rapid heartbeat. A heart failure can be further classified into four stages, based on the damage to the heart muscle. These include stages A, B, C, and D. The staging of HF is important from the treatment point of view.
Since heart failure is a major cardiac event that causes the death of heart muscle cells, scientists have been searching for various strategies to improve cardiac function by “remuscularizing” the damaged heart wall. This is being done by transplanting different types of “adult” or “pluripotent” bone marrow stem cells into the patient’s heart to repair the damaged muscle.
Preliminary experiments with bone marrow stem cell transplant showed that they improve cardiac function and strengthen the heart muscles. This indicates that these cells can release signals to improve cardiac function – without replacing the lost muscle. The earlier trials also demonstrated that transplanting both adult and pluripotent stem cells into patients with cardiac insufficiency is generally feasible, safe, and effective.
Mitral prolapse falls under the valvular heart diseases – common heart conditions that may cause typical signs and symptoms in both men and women. Often times, valvular conditions require surgical intervention to replace or repair the damaged valve. While many biological, as well as mechanical replacement options, are being used to treat the condition, each has its drawbacks and complicated side effects.
Researchers are planning to develop heart valves using patient’s own cells through a process called “decellularization”. This procedure involves removing cells from a donor’s heart, de-cellularizing (break down) the cells, and populate them with pluripotent stem cells and adult progenitor cells to create a new, patient-specific biological heart valve. This valve represents the original valves and works as a living alternative to the existing damaged valve.
Heart attack is a heart condition with extended family history and a leading cause of disability and death in the U.S, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Cardiac tissue dies during a heart attack. This weakens the heart and cause-specific warning symptoms in men and women. Recovery from a heart attack often depends on the treatment modality and how quickly it is provided to the patient.
The researchers at Mayo Clinic have uncovered stem cell therapy as a potential treatment and prevention option for for heart attack. Stem cell activated mechanisms of healing help restore cardiac muscle back to its original condition and improve cardiac function. The researchers have used cardiopoietic stem cells to reverse damage and complex changes caused by a heart attack. These stem cells are derived from bone marrow adult cells.
The researchers have confirmed that cardiopoietic stem cell therapy help reverses two-third of the damage caused by heart attack-induced changes, either fully or partially. This new technique can be a step forward in understanding the treatment framework for broader applications of stem cell transplant across various heart and body conditions.
Heart diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity disability and mortality (death) worldwide. Current therapies and treatment options either only ease symptoms or delay the progression of the condition – but don’t cure the underlying cause. Recent clinical trials and laboratory experiments suggest that stem cell transplant can reverse cardiac muscle damage, improve heart function, and help regenerate the cardiac tissue.
After the transplant, progenitor cells and bone-marrow-derived stem cells differentiate into healthy and functional vascular cell types, restoring cardiac function. These new findings in animal studies have stimulated hope and optimism that the heart conditions like a heart attack, cardiac insufficiency, and valvular heart disease can be treated and even reversed.
We use only umbilical cord stem cells that are derived exclusively from umbilical cord donations.
The umbilical cord stem cells from are collected after informed consent has been given by the parent, or parents, and only after the delivery of the baby.
The collection follows strict ethical protocols ensuring the stem cells are from safe, reliable sources using a non-invasive, simple and painless procedure.
Once the cells are collected, our lab uses the most advanced technology to isolate, cultivate, expand and test the mesenchymal stem cells. The entire process takes three weeks to ensure the lab produces stem cells that are safe and efficacious.
The stem cells are administered by intravenous and Intrathecal (spinal) injection
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