Howard Leonhardt to Present 27 Years Experience Stem Cell Based Organ Regeneration 31st Annual Interventional Cardiology Conference March 6th Colorado
27 Years Experience with Organ Regeneration Research - what we have learned and where do we go from here? SNOWMASS, Colo., Feb. 17th, 2016 /PRBuzz/ -- Howard Leonhardt, founder of BioLeonhardt MyoStim and Leonhardt Ventures will be presenting his team’s 27 year experience with stem cell, growth factor and bioelectric based organ regeneration and repair at the 31st Annual International Symposium of Interventional Cardiology with a special focus on heart regeneration. The conference, which will explore a comprehensive approach to the percutaneous management of structural heart disease and coronary and peripheral vascular disease, will be held at the Westin Hotel in Snowmass Village, Colo., from March 5th - 11th, 2016. Leonhardt’s presentation, titled “27 Years’ Experience with Stem Cel Based Organ Regeneration - What We Have Learned” in the program, will take place Sunday March 6th in the 7am to 10am session.
Leonhardt Ventures founded in 1982 began regeneration research collaboartion with Dr. Robert O. Becker the author of the book The Body Electric in 1985. Collaborative researchers Dr. Race Kao and Dr. George Magovern completed the first muscle stem cell repair of a heart in a large animal in 1988 in published in The Physiologist in 1989. In 1998 Dr. Doris Taylor one of BioLeonhardt’s lead researchers and key advisors published the first comprehensive study of muscle stem cell regeneration of hearts in Nature Medicine. In 2001 a team led by Leonhardt and Professor Patrick Serruys in The Netherlands completed the first-in-man percutaneous repair of human heart with muscle stem cells. This led later to Phase I, Phase II, Phase II/II double blinded, randomized, placebo controlled trials and numerous side studies summarized below. Over the past 27 years, the team’s research with stem cell transplantation for treating heart failure have revealed the following:
> One time delivery of any type of cell for organ regeneration is not enough. Repeat deliveries at least once a week for up to 36 months are required for proper organ regeneration.
> Properly programmed bioelectric stimulation to control expression of key proteins at the right time are great helpful to organ regeneration.
> Embyronic stem cells do not work in myocardial scar tissue. They form fibroblasts or more scar. They die out.
> Cardiomyocytes die out when injected in myocardial scar tissue (they require too much oxygen and nutrients) and cannot be multiplied to therapeutic dosages. They are electrically unstable in scar tissue.
> Adipose, blood, bone marrow, placenta and embryonic stem cells cannot grow new muscle in scar tissue.
> Cardiac stem cells only work to form new muscle on the rim edge of a scar, not in the center.
> Only myoblasts or immature myoblasts are able to form new contractile muscle in scar tissue.
> Hundreds of animal studies have been completed, with the nearly universal majority yielding positive results for myoblast transplantation. > More than 400 patients have been enrolled in clinical trials for myoblast transplantation since June 2000. > Direct needle catheter injection into scar tissue is far superior to coronary infusion or other methods. > Targeted cell delivery is not needed. The cells naturally spread all over scar tissue if they are injected anywhere near the scar tissue and migrate to the injured tissue areas. > In trials, 84% of myoblast-treated heart-failure patients have improved in at least one major parameter; only 16% worsened.
> 69% of non-treated control or placebo patients in trials have worsened.
> 33% of myoblast-treated patients with only one injection session exhibited substantial improvement in cardiac function. > Myoblast-treated patients improved 95.7 meters over placebo patients (-4 meters decline) in exercise capacity in controlled clinical trials. No other stem cell type, drug or device has ever beat 53 meters improvement in a controlled trial; cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) pacers achieved an improvement of 16 to 20 meters improvement.
> It is expected that repeat myoblast transplantation will reduce by half hospitalizations from heart failure. Heart-failure hospitalizations and associated care are the single leading drain on Medicare in the USA.
> Myoblast-transplanted patients have a lower incidence of serious arrhythmias six months and one year after treatment than non-treated patients. Premature ventricular contraction (PVC) data demonstrates 0.05% for myoblast-treated patients and 3% for non-treated patients.
> 33% of myoblast-treated patients improve two heart failure classes.
> 33% of myoblast-treated patients have greater than 15% improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) via dobutamine stress echo studies. > Pressure-volume (PV) loop studies have demonstrated myoblast-treated patients have substantial positive reverse re-modeling. > Pre-treating scar with microRNAs, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and hydrogel before cell transplantation can improve results. > Genetically modifying cells to over-express SDF-1 can double improvement results and the consistency of results.
Myoblasts alone lead to 27% improvement, while SDF-1 myoblasts result in 54% improvement. 66% of test subjects received substantial new muscle formation with SDF-1 myoblasts compared to 33% with ordinary myoblasts.
> New muscle formed with myoblasts is stretch-activated.
> Injecting cardiac stem cells or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells at the rim edge of scar and myoblasts in the center of scar in combination may be worth studying.
> Nutrient hydrogel can help improve myoblast cell engraftment in scar tissue.
> Cardiac matrix enhances regeneration.
> Follistatin enhances regeneration.
> Pyruvate enhances regeneration.
> f hVEGF mRNA protein expression significantly increased accompanied by an enhanced PI3K/Ak activity is key to guiding cardiac stem cell migration.
> Micro RNAs can enhance heart regeneration by preparing heart scar tissue before muscle stem cells are delivered or recruited.
> Heart regeneration can be enhanced by off loading the work load of the heart with a circulatory assist device.
> A progressive agressive protocol is required for most organ regeneration procedures best served by long term implantation of a programmable regeneration stimulator and re-fillable micro pump.
For more information on the 31st Annual International Symposium of Interventional Cardiology, see http://www.interventionalcardiol.com. To learn more about advances in regenerative medicine, visit http://www.bioleonhardt.com and http://www.leonhardtventures.com.
The 27 years of experience focused on heart and limb regeneration is now being transferred to other Leonhardt Ventures spin out startups incubating in the Cal-X Stars Business Accelerator for treating and regenerating other organs; EyeCell for eye, CerebraCell or brain, AortaCell for aortas, Stem Cell Bra for breasts, EndoCell for arteries, PancreaCell for pancreas, RegenaLung for lungs, DentaCell for dental gums, OrthoCyto for tooth movement, Tisugen for joints, Valvublator for heart valves - see www.calxstars.com.
About Leonhardt Ventures: Since 1982 Leonhardt Ventures http://www.leonhardtventures.com has a strong history of inventing, developing, backing and bringing to market leadership products for treating heart and cardiovascular disease. Over 200,000 patients have been treated to date with Leonhardt inventions.
