Human heart regrows muscle cells after heart attack: Study

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

“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 Hume, also lead of translational research at Australia’s Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Research.

Though increased mitosis (a process in which cells divide and reproduce) after a heart attack has been observed in the heart muscles of mice, this is the first time the phenomenon has been demonstrated in humans.

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.