Researchers are using stem cells to grow tiny three-dimensional human stomachs that are structurally similar to the real thing, helping investigators seek treatments for gastric diseases such as ulcers and cancer.

Researchers carefully added growth hormones to embryonic or induced stem cells in a lab for as long as five weeks to encourage the development of gastric tissue, according to the findings published today in the journal Nature. The mini-stomachs, which even produce hormones that regulate the secretion of acid and digestive enzymes, may help discover therapies for diseases that affect as much as 10 percent of the worlds population.

The researchers are experimenting with tissue from the mini-stomachs to use as grafts for treating peptic ulcers, said James Wells, a professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. Eventually they may be able to make larger organs that could be used for transplant, he said.

The transplant of a whole stomach is a way off, but its within a reasonable time frame to generate in a petri dish pieces of stomach to patch ulcers, Wells said in a telephone interview. There is no reason to think that if we can do this in miniature that we cant do it on a larger scale. This was a seminal step in that direction.

Some of the same investigators transplanted functioning human intestinal tissue grown from stem cells into mice, creating a model for studying intestinal diseases. Ultimately, tissue grown using a patients own stem cells may be used to treat their ailments, according to the study published last week in Nature Medicine.

The researchers are already able to use the tiny organs, about the size of a small green pea, to track the development of stomach ailments that are often caused by bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, Wells said. They inject the mini-stomachs with the bacteria and within hours they can see the cell replication it causes. One day they may be able to use the approach to see which experimental drugs block the damage.

The results may have more immediate impact on the production of lung and pancreatic cells that other researchers are crafting, he said. Those tissues are now grown on flat sheets, and using a three-dimensional approach may also work better for them, Wells said.

These are three-dimensional organs, he said. It makes sense to use a more functional approach.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at mcortez@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net Andrew Pollack, Drew Armstrong

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Stem Cells Used to Grow Mini-Stomachs Seeking Treatments