Researchers from Newcastle University said that they are developing a test that has the potential to allow physicians to swiftly determine whether a donor's heart is still transplantable.

In a new study, the researchers said that screening older organ donors for potentially harmful "Zombie Cells" may increase the number of hearts available for transplant.

Hearts from donors above the age of 65 are currently not accepted for donation due to the likelihood of poor post-transplant outcomes. However, According to researchers, age is not necessarily a reliable predictor of heart health.

The study, which was partially funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference in Manchester recently, discovered that heart disease patients have higher levels of senescent or ‘zombie’ cells in their blood than those without the disease.

The senescent cells are not dead but produce chemicals that can cause other cells to convert into zombie cells, causing inflammation and scarring of tissues in cardiac muscles and increasing the risk of cardiovascular problems.

The Newcastle University study team, directed by Dr Gavin Richardson, Senior Lecturer and Theme Leader for Vascular Medicine and Biology, was interested in understanding the trace that these cells leave in the blood.

They postulated that a blood test for this pattern could identify older potential donors with biologically viable hearts for transplantation.

Researchers are now looking for senescent cell signatures, utilising blood and tissue samples from the Organ Donation Biobank and the United Kingdom National Health Service’s blood and transplant collections to see whether there is a link between them and improved transplant outcomes.

Commenting on the team’s findings, Dr Richardson said, "Our work is revealing more about the clues that ‘zombie’ cells leave to suggest their presence in the body."

"We are confident that we will be able to use these clues to better understand which hearts from non-eligible donors might be able to be used after all," he added.

Pointing out their study could be a game changer, as currently most hearts from older donors are not used for transplant, he further added, "But the hope is we will be able to show that a number of these organs are suitable for transplant for people desperately waiting for a new heart."

 It may be noted that across the United Kingdom currently, about 320 people waiting for a life-saving heart transplant.

The researchers expressed hope that this new test would improve the number of hearts available and enable more people to receive a transplant.