Heart diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, and heart attacks often lead to the loss of heart muscle cells, which are essential for heart function and blood circulation. While heart muscle cells can regenerate by 0.5% annually in healthy individuals, the regenerative ability is significantly impaired in diseased individuals, leading to serious health consequences.
A team led by Dr. Olaf Bergmann from the University Medical Center Göttingen investigated the regeneration of heart muscle cells in advanced heart failure. The cell renewal rate was up to 50 times lower than in healthy hearts. However, with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), it was "found that patients treated with an LVAD showed more than six times higher renewal rates of heart muscle cells, which was associated with significant improvements in heart function and structure," explains Dr. Bergmann.
About the Study
In this study, tissue samples from 52 patients with advanced heart failure who all received a heart transplant were examined. 28 of these patients were treated with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) before the heart was removed, while 24 remained untreated. To measure the renewal of heart muscle cells, the researchers used the amount of radioactive carbon (C-14) in the DNA, a remnant from nuclear weapon tests, and calculated the age of the cells based on this.
In 15 of the 28 LVAD patients, the renewal rate of heart muscle cells was six times higher than in healthy individuals. The other 13 LVAD patients, as well as the untreated patients, showed 18 to 50 times lower regeneration. The improved regeneration with LVAD is likely facilitated by mechanical unloading and "reverse remodeling," which reverses pathological changes in the heart muscle. According to Dr. Bergmann: "The LVAD enables the heart to recover. This, in turn, improves energy efficiency and likely promotes the regeneration of heart muscle cells, which could not be observed in the samples without mechanical support."
Original publication:
A Latent Cardiomyocyte Regeneration Potential in Human Heart Disease. Derks, et al., Circulation 2024
Scientific contact:
Priv.-Doz. Dr. Olaf Bergmann, University Medical Centre Göttingen, Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, olaf.bergmann(at)med.uni-goettingen.de
