Cardiac stem cells from young hearts could rejuvenate old hearts

Cardiac stem cell infusions could someday help reverse the aging process in the human heart, making older ones behave younger, according to a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute.

“Our previous lab studies and human clinical trials have shown promise in treating heart failure using cardiac stem cell infusions,” said Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and the primary investigator of the study. “Now we find that these specialized stem cells could turn out to reverse problems associated with aging of the heart.”

The study was published today by the European Heart Journal.

Lilian Grigorian-Shamagian, Weixin Liu, Soraya Fereydooni, Ryan C. Middleton, Jackelyn Valle, Jae Hyung Cho, Eduardo Marbán. Cardiac and systemic rejuvenation after cardiosphere-derived cell therapy in senescent rats. European Heart Journal, 2017; DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehx454

Telomeres, stained in purple, are caps which protect our chromosomes from damage. They get shorter with aging and are enlarged with young CDCs in the study.Credit: Cedars-SinaiClose