Falling in love repairs damaged cells after a heart attack
A recent study has found that oxytocin, known as the "love hormone", which our bodies produce when we fall in love, can treat a "broken heart."
Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that the "love hormone" also appears to have the ability to repair cells in the injured heart.
When someone has a heart attack, the muscles in the heart that allow them to contract die in large amounts.
They are highly specialized cells and cannot renew themselves.
The researchers found that oxytocin stimulates stem cells in the outer layer of the heart, which migrate to the middle layer and turn into cardiomyocytes.
So far, researchers have tested this treatment in human cells and zebrafish only in the lab.
But it is hoped that one day the "love hormone" will be used to develop a treatment for heart damage.
"Here we show that oxytocin is able to activate cardiac repair mechanisms in injured hearts in zebrafish and human cells (grown in vitro), opening the door to potential new therapies to regenerate the heart," said study lead author Dr Aitor Aguirre, associate professor of biology at Michigan State University. heart in humans.
And in both zebrafish and human cell cultures, oxytocin was able to cause stem cells on the outside of the heart to move deeper into the organ and transform into cardiomyocytes, the muscle cells responsible for heart contractions.
According to "Russia Today", the research is still in its early stages, but the team hopes that one day the migratory heart stem cells can help treat people with damage caused by heart attacks.
The researchers conducted the tests on zebrafish because it has a unique ability to regrow body parts such as the brain, bones and skin.
Zebrafish can regenerate up to a quarter of the heart, due to the abundance of cardiac muscle and other cells that can be reprogrammed.
The researchers found that within three days of a heart injury, oxytocin levels rose by up to 20 times in the brain.
They also showed that the hormone is directly involved in the healing process of the heart.
More importantly, oxytocin had a similar effect on human tissue in a test tube.
"Even if the heart regeneration is only partial, the benefits to patients could be enormous," Dr. Aguirre revealed.
According to the "Daily Mail", the next steps for researchers will be to look at the effect of oxytocin on humans after a heart injury.
Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain of humans and animals, specifically in an area known as the hypothalamus.
It is a major chemical responsible for feelings of adoration, attachment, and pleasure.
The brain produces this hormone upon close contact, and this is what earned it the name “love hormone” or “cuddle hormone.”
Oxytocin can also be used to stimulate or improve contractions during labor, as well as reduce bleeding after delivery.
The hormone that is produced naturally in the body is short-lived, which means that long-term oxytocin medications may be needed.
The results were published in full in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
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