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Adequate pork hearts could be transplanted into patients within three years, according to a report citing the pioneering heart transplant surgeon in the UK.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first successful heart transplant, Sir Terence English told The Sunday Telegraph that his protégé of this operation would seek to replace a human kidney with a pig this year.
"If the result of xenotransplantation is satisfactory with porcine kidneys in humans, it is likely that hearts will be used with good effects in humans within a few years," said the 87-year-old player. "If it works with a kidney, it will work with a heart. This will transform the problem. "
The anatomy and physiology of the pig's heart are similar to those of the human being. They are therefore used as models for the development of new treatments. Hopes of success in treating heart attacks were raised in May after gene therapy appeared promising in pigs.
An international team of researchers, including British scientists, discovered that bringing a small piece of genetic material called microRNA-199 to a heart damaged by an attack was causing cell regeneration.
Myocardial infarction, caused by the sudden blockage of one of the coronary arteries, is the leading cause of heart failure. Survivors often suffer permanent structural damage to the heart.
In the UK, an estimated 900,000 people with heart disease and millions of other people with high blood pressure, another risk factor for heart attack.
"A treatment that helps the heart repair itself after a heart attack is the holy grail for cardiologists," Ajay Shah, president of the British Heart Foundation's chair of cardiology, told i newspaper. "This study convincingly demonstrates for the first time that this could actually be achievable and not just a chimera."
During the research, whose results were published in the journal Nature, scientists administered microRNA-199 to pigs after a myocardial infarction. There was an "almost complete recovery" of heart function after one month.
However, considerable obstacles remain before gene therapy can be tested on patients with heart attacks. Most of the treated pigs died after treatment because the microRNA-199 continued to be expressed in an uncontrolled manner.
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