a “cell juice” to treat heart failure, a world first at the Pompidou hospital

This world first was carried out this summer at the Parisian hospital, opening a “research avenue” to avoid transplant.

“I said ‘banco, I’ll go straight away’.” A world first was carried out during the summer of 2023 at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris. To treat severe heart failure of genetic origin, a first patient received “heart cell juice”.

Aged 59, the patient, Sammy Seror, suffered from cardiomyopathy. His only option was a heart transplant. But at the franceinfo microphone, he confides that he was “not therepsychologically not yet ready“. At the Pompidou hospital, Professor Philippe Menasché then suggested that he be treated with a “heart cell juice“.

“They told me: ‘It’s an experiment that may or may not improve your heart failure but we don’t know anything about it since you will be the first in the world to do it’.”

Sammy Seror

at franceinfo

“I said ‘banco, I’m going there straight away’. Beforehand, they studied me as if I were going to the Moon, they gave me all the tests in the world. And then, I followed this protocol, I received this ‘cell juice’ intravenously”continues Sammy Seror.

Hundreds of biological substances

10 years ago, surgeon Philippe Menasché had already achieved a world first: transplanting heart cells into a patient suffering from the same disease. But the cumbersome operation then required continuous medication to prevent the body from rejecting the graft. “We realized that the mechanism of action of heart cells was the release of hundreds of biological substances that can help repair the heart. In other words, cells should not be seen as replacement agents, but rather as micro-factories, releasing hundreds of micro-drugs into the heart.“, deciphers the specialist.

He therefore only kept what is essential: the hundreds of secreted micro-drugs, the heart cells being not essential. Once filtered, these micro-drugs become a “heart cell juice” easy to administer to patients, in the arm, and without problems of graft rejection. Several months after the three injections, Sammy Seror assures him: he is doing well, explaining that he “actually felt an improvement“But Philippe Ménasché remains cautious because the clinical trial is in its early stages.”He is a patient, the follow-up is only a few months. We must wait until we have more patients in the trial and naturally, longer follow-ups before drawing conclusions.“, nuance the scientist.

A second patient should receive this “heart cell juice“next month. The final results of this clinical trial are expected in five years. Only then will we be able to say whether the line of research is scientifically validated.