Based on data recently published in Cell Transplantation, researchers demonstrated that in a study with sheep, self-donated – also called autologous – cord blood stem cells played an important role in heart repair following surgery.

Human patients undergoing surgical repair for a common congenital heart disease called tetrology of fallot (TOF) often experience blood leakage into the right ventricle of the heart.  This leakage can cause the ventricle to malfunction, resulting in complications that could potentially lead to death.  In this controlled study, 20 sheep underwent heart surgery to simulate the post-surgical condition following repair of TOF.  The researchers of the study wanted to determine if injecting a sheep’s own stem cells from umbilical cord blood was safe and could help protect the right ventricle of the heart from this common side effect of congenital heart surgery. 

Three months following the surgery, ten of the sheep received an injection of their own umbilical cord blood into the right ventricle of the heart, and ten received a placebo injection.  Ninety days following treatment, when physical exertion was simulated in a stress test the speed of contraction and relaxation of the right ventricle was significantly higher (an indication of improved function) in those that received the stem cells compared to those that received the placebo.  In addition, the treated animals showed substantially higher capillary density than the untreated group, leading the researchers to conclude that the cord blood stem cell treatment is safe and may positively influence the function of the heart.

These study results contribute to the growing body of research suggesting that using a child’s own cord blood stem cells may play a therapeutic role in cardiovascular repair, particularly in congenital heart defects.

Click here to view the study