Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. announced that its PLacental eXpanded (PLX) cells, tested in a preclinical animal model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), proved to effectively improve several cardiac hemodynamic parameters in animals that received those cells. The study was conducted in collaboration with Professor Christof Stamm, MD and Professor Carsten Tschöpe MD and their respective staffs at the Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Berlin, Germany.
Twenty mice suffered an AMI by ligating the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery via thoracotomy. Immediately following the AMI, animals were given either PLX cells (n=10) or cell-free medium as a control (n=10) into the border zone of the infarct. Additionally, five animals underwent a sham (placebo) operation by incurring the thoracotomy but without ligation of the LAD.
After 4 weeks, transthoracic echocardiography was performed, the mice were sacrificed and their hearts examined histologically. Hemodynamic studies demonstrated improved cardiac contractile function in the mice which received the PLX cells as compared to control-treated mice. The improved cardiac contractile function included a statistically significant increase in stroke volume (p=0.01) and ejection fraction (p=0.06).
The New England Journal of Medicine reported that approximately 624,000 patients suffer an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) annually in the USA, a number that will most likely increase with the rising prevalence of obesity, diabetes and the aging of the population.
“As a cardiac surgeon, the unique ability demonstrated by Pluristem’s PLX cells for the treatment of heart disease is very exciting,” said Professor Stamm. “Currently, millions of patients worldwide suffer from cardiac ischemia and physicians are looking for new therapies to treat those patients. PLX cells showed promising results in the AMI studies.”
“These results demonstrate the potential benefits of our cells for use in the treatment of ischemic heart disease, a multi-billion dollar annual market, and one in which many pharmaceutical companies are constantly looking to provide patients with innovative and effective solutions,” said Zami Aberman, Chairman and CEO of Pluristem. “In addition to moving ahead with our AMI trial, we look forward to continuing to work on finding cell therapy solutions for numerous debilitating diseases.”
Date: March 20, 2012
Source: Pluristem Therapeutics Inc.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
