Dear Colleagues:
Exciting News was published in Nature at the end of May! In a world first, researchers from King’s College, London announced a new therapy that can induce myocardial cells to regenerate! As nurses, we know that despite stenting and refined coronary artery bypass graft (CABG ) procedures, myocardial infarction is the top cause of heart failure, a condition that now affects over 23 million people around the world (World Health Organization, 2018) Heart attack survivors are left with permanent structural damage via the formation of a myocardial scar, which can lead to heart failure. Stem cell research has not proved promising in this arena. Drs Sun Hun Lee & Dong Hum Lee injected the scarred myocardium of pigs who had suffered heart attacks with microRNA-199 which codes for the ETV2 gene. ETV2 is the gene responsible for the production of a protein involved in hematopoesis and vascular growth. The protein did it’s work: within one month, the pig’s myocardium was restored to near – perfect function!
The authors concluded:
“We provide compelling evidence that ETV2 has a robust effect on vascular regeneration and enhanced cardiac repair after myocardial infarction, highlighting a potential therapeutic function of ETV2 as an efficient means to treat failing heart muscle.”
Imagine the implications for our patients!
Mahalo for all you do!
Leslie
For more information visit
https://www.nature.com/article