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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Researchers regenerate muscle tissue in patients with traumatic injuries.

The CBS Evening News (4/30, story 11, 1:55, Pelley) reported that physicians “have found a way to regenerate muscle tissue in patients with traumatic injuries.”
        The AP (5/1, Neergaard) reports that researchers “implanted thin sheets of scaffolding-like material from pigs into a few young men with disabling leg injuries – and say the experimental treatment coaxed the men’s own stem cells to regrow new muscle.”
        The Los Angeles Times (5/1, Morin) reports that “three of the five patients saw at least a 20% increase in strength and a 25% improvement in functionality six months after the surgery, according to the report,” published in Science Translational Medicine.
        Bloomberg News (5/1, Zimm) reports that “all five patients, some with battlefield injuries who had lost 58 percent to 90 percent of muscle, reported improvement in quality of life.”
        The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (4/30, Templeton) reports, “Even though two other patients failed to regain 25 percent of lost muscle mass, their muscle growth was sufficient to restore functionality...said” Stephen Badylak, one of the researchers.
        CBS News (5/1, Firger) points out on its website that “pig bladder cells have been used for years to repair damaged and missing tissue of patients.” Physicians have, “in the past,” used “the technique to fix hernias and treat skin ulcers.”
        The NPR (5/1, Stein) “Shots” blog reports that “if the results can be confirmed and improved...it could become a useful alternative for healing these devastating wounds, Badylak says.” Also covering the story are the Pittsburgh Business Times (5/1, Subscription Publication), MedPage Today (5/1, Wickline) and HealthDay (5/1, Thompson).
        USA Today (5/1, Weintraub) reports on that study, and also on a separate study published in Nature, in which investigators “showed that they could repair damaged hearts by injecting...stem cells into macaque monkeys.” The researchers “took human embryonic stem cells, turned them into muscle cells and then inserted them into the damaged hearts of seven pigtail macaque monkeys.” The researchers found that “the cells became virtually indistinguishable from the monkey’s own cells, beating along with them.”
        The Seattle Times (5/1, Ostrom) reports, “On average, the transplanted cells regenerated 40 percent of the damaged areas.”
        HealthDay (5/1, Preidt) points out that during “the weeks following the cell transplants, the monkeys had episodes of irregular heartbeats.” However, “the irregular heartbeats disappeared within two to three weeks as the stem cells matured, said” one of the researchers.

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