Although the study was carried out on lab mice, researchers believe damaged human hearts could be regrown as well

Apr 7, 2015 18:16 GMT  ·  By

Our skin, our blood and our hair constantly renew themselves. The human heart, however, is unable to regenerate itself following an attack by growing new cells to replace damaged ones. 

Well, at least this is what medical experts tell patients. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia aren’t so convinced.

In a series of experiments, these scientists managed to regrow mouse hearts by exposing the animals to increased levels of a hormone dubbed neuregulin.

This hormone is naturally occurring in the body, and previous studies have shown that its role is to help coordinate cell growth, the University of New South Wales specialists explain.

When exposed to elevated levels of neuregulin after having suffered a heart attack, laboratory mice regrew up to 45% of the cells they lost during the myocardial infarction.

Besides, the researchers say that the rodents they experimented on continued to produce new heart muscle cells at a steady pace all throughout their adolescence and adulthood.

By comparison, regular mice pretty much stop producing new heart muscle cells shortly after they are born. The same is true about humans.

Although further research is needed to confirm this, the scientists behind this study believe that it might be possible to coax human hearts into regenerating themselves after an attack.

“The dream is that one day we will be able to regenerate damaged heart tissue, much like a salamander can regrow a new limb if it is bitten off by a predator,” said specialist Richard Harvey.