A research team led by Dr. Hesham Sadek at the University of Arizona’s Sarver Heart Center discovered that some patients with artificial hearts can regenerate heart muscle. Such a discovery could potentially open new pathways to treat heart failure, which affects nearly 7 million U.S. adults. Most notably, the international study found that patients with artificial hearts regenerated muscle cells at more than six times the rate of healthy hearts, providing the first irrefutable evidence of heart muscle regeneration in humans.
Specifically, the research suggests that the heart’s inability to rest prevents regeneration after birth, as heart cells must continuously pump blood. Therefore, artificial hearts may provide the necessary “rest” for regeneration to occur. While only about 25% of patients with artificial hearts show this regenerative response, the findings could lead to new treatments, as artificial hearts are already widely used. This breakthrough builds on Sadek’s previous research, including his 2011 discovery that heart muscle cells stop dividing shortly after birth to focus on pumping blood and his 2014 evidence of cell division in artificial heart patients.
Image from iStock by Ivan-balvan.