American Heart Association Special Reports: Emerging Science Series

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Jun 27, 2011, 01:00 ET

DALLAS, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release is being issued by the American Heart Association:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100222/AHSALOGO)

First patients receive lab-grown blood vessels from donor cells

Study Highlights:

For the first time, blood vessels created in the lab from donor skin cells were successfully implanted in patients.
Functioning blood vessels that aren't rejected by the immune system could be used to make durable shunts for kidney dialysis, and potentially to improve treatment for children with heart defects and adults needing coronary or other bypass graft surgery.

Embargoed for release at 1 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. CDT, Monday, June 27, 2011.

New study suggests potent antiplatelet drug effective with low-dose aspirin

Study Highlights:

When taken with higher doses of aspirin (more than 300 milligrams), the experimental antiplatelet drug ticagrelor was associated with worse outcomes than the standard drug, clopidogrel, but the opposite was true with lower doses of aspirin.
The study is a secondary analysis of a clinical trial that compared the two drugs and found ticagrelor to be less effective in North America than in other countries.
Researchers suggest the aspirin dose in combination with anti-clotting medicine may alter ticagrelor's effectiveness.

Embargoed for release at 1 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. CDT, Monday, June 27, 2011.

Additional Resources: Presentation slides and abstracts

All materials are embargoed for release at 1 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. CDT, Monday, June 27, 2011.

Media Advisory:

Media briefing teleconference: 11 a.m. EDT/10 a.m. CDT

Conference ID Number: 6213805

Call: (U.S.) 888-300-2318; (International) 719-955-1565;

Participant code: 888-299-7241

The Emerging Science Series provides a new venue for presenting the latest cardiovascular scientific breakthroughs several times a year, when the discoveries are ready to be presented rather than waiting for a regularly scheduled meeting. Each study is handled in a peer-reviewed process similar to late-breaking clinical trials presented at AHA's annual Scientific Sessions.

Failure to abide by embargoes will result in suspension of credentials for American Heart Association meetings, privileges to the password-protected newsroom and the ability to receive advance materials.

CONTACT:
Maggie Francis (214) 706-1382; [email protected]
Carrie Thacker: (214) 706-1665; [email protected]

American Heart Association Special Reports
Emerging Science Series

DALLAS, June 27, 2011 – The following studies are the first to be presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series, which will be held at 1 p.m. EDT/ 12 p.m. CDT. The series is a free online webinar presentation of cutting-edge science. The Emerging Science Series provides a new venue for presenting the latest cardiovascular scientific breakthroughs several times a year, when the discoveries are ready to be presented rather than waiting for a regularly scheduled meeting. Each study is handled in a peer-reviewed process similar to late-breaking clinical trials presented at AHA's annual Scientific Sessions.

The series will include the first presentation of data from clinical trials, basic science, key updates of previously presented trials and major bench-to-bedside breakthroughs. The webinar will be viewable from a computer or mobile phone and attendees can post questions electronically before or after the event. Presentations will be archived for on-demand viewing. For registration and information about the series visit: http://my.americanheart.org/professional/Sessions/AdditionalMeetings/EmergingScienceSeries/New-Emerging-Science-Series_UCM_424613_Article.jsp

First patients receive lab-grown blood vessels from donor cells

DALLAS, June 27, 2011 – For the first time, human blood vessels grown in a laboratory from donor skin cells have been successfully implanted into patients, according to new research presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar.

While more testing is needed, such "off-the-shelf" blood vessels could soon be used to improve the process and affordability of kidney dialysis.

"Our approach could allow hundreds of thousands of patients to be treated from one master cell line," said study lead author Todd N. McAllister, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Cytograft Tissue Engineering Inc., of Novato, Calif.

The grafts also have the potential to be used in lower limb bypass to route blood around diseased arteries, to repair congenital heart defects in pediatric patients and to fix damaged arteries in soldiers, who might otherwise lose a limb, said McAllister.

The tissue-engineered blood vessels, produced from sheets of cultured skin cells rolled around temporary support structures, were used to create access shunts between arteries and veins in the arm for kidney dialysis in three patients. These shunts, which connect an artery to a vein, provide access to the blood for dialysis. The engineered vessels were about a foot long with a diameter of 4.8 millimeters.

At follow-up exams up to eight months after implantation, none of the patients had developed an immune reaction to the implants, and the vessels withstood the high pressure and frequent needle punctures required for dialysis. Shunts created from patients' own vessels or synthetic materials are notoriously prone to failure.

Investigators previously showed that using vessels individually created from a patient's own skin cells reduced the rate of shunt complications 2.4-fold over a 3-year period. The availability of off-the-shelf vessels could avoid the expense and months-long process involved in creating custom vessels for each patient, making the technique feasible for widespread use.

Besides addressing a costly and vexing problem in kidney dialysis, off-the-shelf blood vessels might someday be used instead of harvesting patients' own vessels for bypass surgery. A larger, randomized trial of the grafts is under way for kidney dialysis, and human trials have been initiated to assess the safety and effectiveness of these grafts for lower-limb bypass.

Co-authors are Wojciech Wystrychowski, M.D.; Lech Cierpka, M.D.; Krzysztof Zagalski, M.D.; Sergio A. Garrido, M.D.; Samuel Radochonski, B.S.; Nathalie Dusserre, Ph.D.; and Nicholas L'Heureux, Ph.D.

Author disclosures are on the abstract.

Cytograft funded the study.

Additional Resources:

New study suggests potent antiplatelet drug effective with low-dose aspirin

DALLAS, June 27, 2011 – The experimental antiplatelet drug ticagrelor prevented significantly more cardiovascular complications than the standard medication clopidogrel when used with low-dose aspirin, according to new research reported in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar.

However, patients taking ticagrelor with high-dose aspirin fared worse than those taking clopidogrel, according to the researchers' new analysis of data from a clinical trial comparing the drugs. Both drugs are used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots from forming in patients with acute coronary syndromes, including those who have suffered a heart attack.

The new analysis found that patients taking ticagrelor with less than 300 milligrams of aspirin daily were 16 percent less likely than those taking clopidogrel with low-dose aspirin to have a heart attack, stroke or to die within a year.

In the initial analysis of the data from the Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial, ticagrelor was less effective than clopidogrel in North America but not in other parts of the world. Researchers examined the PLATO data to determine why these regional differences occurred. While they could not exclude chance, they identified aspirin dose as a potential explanation.

Ticagrelor is already approved for use in some countries but still under Federal Drug Administration review in the United States.

"Patients with acute coronary syndrome have options to prevent recurrent events," said Kenneth W. Mahaffey, M.D., lead author and co-director of cardiovascular research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. "Physicians choosing to use ticagrelor in countries where it is approved and available should consider using a low-dose of maintenance aspirin with the drug."

Co-authors are Daniel M. Wojdyla, M.S.; Kevin Carroll, M.S.; Richard C. Becker, M.D.; Robert F. Storey, M.D., D.M.; Dominick J. Angiolillo, M.D., Ph.D.; Claes Held, M.D., Ph.D.; Christopher P. Cannon, M.D.; Stefan James, M.D., Ph.D.; Karen S. Pieper, M.S.; Jay Horrow, M.D.; Robert A. Harrington, M.D.; and Lars Wallentin, M.D., Ph.D.

Author disclosures are on the abstract.

AstraZeneca funded the study.

Additional Resources:

For more on heart attack signs, prevention and treatment visit www.heart.org/heartattack.
Cardiac medications
Anti-Clotting Agents Explained

Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific meetings or presentations are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1091 (Circ/ESSJune11)

SOURCE American Heart Association