Scientists Have Created A Patch That May Prevent Future Heart Attacks

by N/A, 10 years ago | 1 min read

A Stanford University professor is leading the charge on an innovation that can help to regenerate heart tissue.

Science Health Heart Conditions Non-Premium

When the victim of a heart attack recovers, there is often damage to their heart tissue, resulting in scarring. Unlike skin, when heart tissue begins to scar it causes more than physical damage.

Scar tissue in the heart can cause it to pump blood through the body in a less effective manner and can lead to recurring heart attacks and even death.

Scientists have recently developed a prototype patch that can be used to prevent scar tissue in the heart and help to regenerate cardiac muscle.

Scientists have performed tests on pigs and mice who have had heart attacks. They stitched a collagen patch with specific proteins that to the animals hearts and saw that cardiac muscle and even new blood vessels, bringing nutrients to the area, were forming.

Pilar Ruiz-Lozano Ph.D., an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, and her team are responsible for this innovation.

They discovered that fish are able to naturally regenerate heart tissue because of the outer layer of their hearts, called the epicardium. The researchers identified 300 proteins within the epicardium, which informed their research when creating the patch.

The prototype patch was created using a piece of collagen infused with a protein called FSTL1.

The patch has the flexibility of fetal heart tissue and is designed to slowly release the proteins into the bodyÂ so that the heart won't reject the implant. Over time, the implant will just become a part of the body. Â For more on this revolutionary treatment option, check out the published research inÂ Nature.Â