Stem Cell Treatment May Reverse Atherosclerosis

Working with a mouse model for atherosclerosis, researchers have found that stem cells from young animals but not from older mice could differentiate into the types of cells that make up the walls of blood vessels and prevent the formation of lesions that lead to blocked arteries.

Investigators at Duke University Medical Center (Durham, NC, USA) used mice specially bred to develop severe atherosclerosis and high cholesterol levels. The researchers injected bone marrow cells from normal mice into these atherosclerosis-prone mice numerous times over a 14-week period. As a control, an equal number of the same kind of atherosclerosis-prone mice went untreated. After 14 weeks, the mice treated with the bone marrow cells showed a 40-60% decrease in the number of lesions in the aorta. Some of the stem cells differentiated into endothelial cells lining the arteries, while others turned into the smooth muscle cells the are located beneath the endothelium.

The study, published July 14, 2003, in the online edition of Circulation, also explained that the lengths of telomeres in the endothelial cells were longer in the treated mice than the untreated mice. Treatment with bone marrow cells from young mice was much more effective than treatment with cells from older mice.

"Our studies indicate that the inability of bone marrow to produce progenitor cells that repair and rejuvenate the lining of the arteries drives the process of atherosclerosis and the formation of plaques in the arteries,” said contributing author Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, chairman of the department of medicine at Duke University. "For a long time we have known that aging is an important risk factor for coronary artery disease, and we have also known that this disease can be triggered by smoking, bad diet, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other factors. But if you compare someone who is over 60 with someone who is 20 with the same risk factors, there is obviously something else going on as well. These findings could be the clue to help us explain why atherosclerosis complications like heart attacks and strokes are almost exclusively diseases of older people.”



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