Fat from the belly can provide a treatment to help heart attack patients, researchers revealed yesterday.
Doctors have liposuctioned the cells and then used them to extract stem cells.
So far some 14 patients have taken part in tests at the Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Most of the patients received treatment with the fat-derived stem cells but some did not.
The researchers say the amount of damage to the heart muscle was halved following treatment – falling to about 15 per cent. Those who were not treated experienced no improvement.
Researcher Dr Eric Duckers told the American Heart Association conference in Chicago, USA: "The study suggests that these cells can be safely obtained and infused inside the hearts of patients following an acute heart attack."
British experts called for more research to establish what the stem cells do.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "In the last few years, more than a dozen small clinical trials have tested whether an injection of stem cells from bone marrow can help the heart to recover after a heart attack, with some promising results.
"This pilot study shows for the first time that stem cells from a patient’s fat tissue may be similarly beneficial, indicating a potential new and more convenient source of stem cells.
"However, since we still know very little about the way these cells could help to repair the damaged heart, there needs to be more research to understand what the stem cells actually do. That will help us to understand more about how they could be used for real patient benefit."
First-in-man Experience With Intracoronary Infusion of Adipose-Derived Regenerative Cells in the Treatment of Patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: The Apollo Trial’, Henricus J Duckers et al, American Heart Association Meeting report, November 2010
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