The animals were evaluated by MRI and tests to assess electrical stability of the heart. “The exosomes reduced the amount of scar tissue formed in the injured regions of the heart, normalizing the rhythm without weakening the heart,” said Dr Marbán, who is a co-author on the study. One group of pigs received an injection of CDC-derived exosomes in their hearts and the other a placebo. They have been used in multiple clinical trials for a variety of diseases, most recently Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Siegel Family Foundation Distinguished Professor. Exosomes are hardy particles containing molecules and the molecular instructions to make various proteins, thus they are easier to handle and transfer than the parent cells, or CDCs.ĬDCs were first developed and characterized by Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, executive director of the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and the Mark S. They injected some of the laboratory pigs with tiny, balloon-like vesicles, called exosomes, produced by cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs), which are progenitor cells derived from human heart tissue. With that in mind, the team sought to try a different approach in laboratory pigs that experienced a heart attack. “We asked ourselves, ‘What if instead of destroying damaged tissue, we tried to repair it?'” “Ablation is a counterintuitive approach because you are destroying heart muscle in an already weakened heart,” said Eugenio Cingolani, MD, director of the Cardiogenetics-Familial Arrhythmia Program at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, and senior author of the study. Recurrence rates are, unfortunately, high for all of these. These include medications with major side effects, implanted devices to provide an internal shock, and a procedure called radiofrequency ablation in which parts of the heart are purposely destroyed to interrupt disruptive electrical signals. The heart ends up beating so rapidly that it cannot support the circulation, leading to a lack of blood flow and, if untreated, death.Ĭurrent treatment options for ventricular arrhythmias caused by heart attacks are far from ideal. Ventricular arrhythmias can occur after a heart attack damages tissue, causing chaotic electrical patterns in the heart’s lower chambers. In an accompanying editorial, experts describe the research as “poised to turn this entire field on its head.” The research, published in the European Heart Journal, could lead to a new way to treat a heart rhythm problem called ventricular arrhythmia a top cause of sudden cardiac death. Vesicles secreted from human heart cells may repair damaged tissue and prevent lethal heart rhythm disorders, according to a new study from investigators in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai.
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