As many as half of the estimated 600,000 coronary artery bypass procedures performed in the United States fail within 10 years, often because the blood vessel used to bypass the clogged heart artery becomes blocked itself due to an overgrowth of cell tissue, which leads to a blood clot. The gene therapy procedure is significant because it appears to work on two different levels - first by inhibiting a molecule that encourages an overproduction of cells that can block a blood vessel and second, by destroying those cells when they do form. Researchers found that the molecule reduced abnormal cell growth by 84 percent in human organ cultures two weeks after it was introduced. This study is also the first to demonstrate that increasing the production of a TIMP-3 in human tissue can reduce the undesirable thickening of the vessel. This is also the first to show these effects in a live animal.
G proteins help cells communicate with each other.
The procedure, which was done using the same type of cardiac catheters used in human patients, was successful in slowing the transmission of electrical impulses across the AV node, slowing the rapid heart in atrial fibrillation. This suggests a potential new approach for patients resistant to current drug therapies and who are now treated with ablation therapy for their rapid heart rates. The study also found an overall significant overall reduction in stroke risk in patients with known vascular disease treated with agent. Their results are the most detailed images yet recorded of the walls and main channels of both normal and diseased coronary arteries in living patients. The study demonstrates for the first time that MRI can provide high-resolution images of the coronary arteries in living individuals.