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Received on February 4, 2006
Accepted on June 1, 2006
Current Issues in Laboratory Medicine |
1 Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR
2 Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Anatomy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR
3 Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR
4 Keele University Medical School, Department of Cardiology, The University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: John.Sanderson{at}uhns.nhs.uk.
Background: It has become apparent recently that cardiac myocytes can divide after myocardial infarction, a circumstance that challenges the orthodoxy that myocytes may not be terminally differentiated. Replacement of the necrosed heart tissue by newly regenerated functional myocardium is a therapeutic ideal, but attempts to reconstitute functional myocardia and coronary vessels have been less successful.
Methods: We isolated 5 compounds that contain fractions of the Chinese herb Geum japonicum, which is endowed with the dual properties that stimulate the processes of angiogenesis and cardiomyogenesis. We investigated these dual properties in both ex vivo and in vivo systems.
Results: We observed that this bioactive fraction displayed favorable dual actions on early angiogenesis and cardiomyogenesis in acute myocardial infarction in an animal model. Our results demonstrated that application of this bioactive fraction showed pronounced effects on limiting infarct size by 35%-45%, stimulating early development of new blood vessels in 24 h, and regenerating myocardium, replacing
49% of the total infarction volume after 2 weeks. Echocardiographic studies demonstrated marked improvement of left ventricular function within 2 days after infarction, and the improvement was sustained for 1 month and onward.
Conclusions: These properties of this bioactive fraction appear to be entirely novel and represent a new approach for the treatment of ischemic heart disease.
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