FUNCTIONAL blood vessels have been created from artificially made human stem cells.
In mice, the blood vessels continued working for as long as nine months.
The ability to regenerate or repair blood vessels could make a difference to the treatment of heart disease and diabetes, say researchers.
The blood vessels were produced from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPScs) – ordinary skin cells genetically modified into an immature state.
IPScs have the properties of embryonic stem cells, such as the ability to become any kind of body tissue with the right stimulation.
Dr Rakesh Jain, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, who led the research, said: "The discovery of ways to bring mature cells back to a 'stem-like' state that can differentiate into many different types of tissue has brought enormous potential to the field of cell-based regenerative medicine, but the challenge of deriving functional cells from these iPScs still remains."
The research is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A combination of iPSc-derived cells were implanted on to the surfaces of the brains of mice. Within two weeks the cells had formed networks of blood-perfused vessels that seemed to function as well as their natural counterparts.
Implantation under the skin also generated blood vessels but took five times more cells. These blood vessels were also short lived.
Meanwhile, a pattern of rising blood pressure among children could be linked to salt, research has suggested.
US scientists found that over the course of a decade elevated blood pressure became 27% more common in people aged eight to 17.
Sodium from salt-laden foods is known to be linked to high blood pressure.
A key finding from the study was that children with the greatest sodium intake were 36% more at risk of raised blood pressure than those with the lowest.
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