title: Stem cell therapy for ischemic heart disease.
abstract: Recent experimental and clinical observations have suggested that cell transplantation could be of therapeutic value for the treatment of heart disease. This approach was based on the idea that transplanted donor cardiomyocytes would integrate with the host myocardium and thereby directly contribute to cardiac function. Surprisingly, the observation that non-cardiomyogenic cells could also improve cardiac function indicates that functional integration of donor cells might not be required to achieve a beneficial effect. More recently, several observations have suggested the presence of a greater than anticipated developmental repertoire in adult-derived stem cells, which, if further validated, would offer unprecedented opportunities for the restoration of cardiac function in diseased hearts. Here, we discuss current issues regarding the potential use of stem cell transplantation for the treatment of ischemic heart disease.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center, Heart Lung Center, Dept of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX, Utrecht, The Netherlands. rutger@niob.knaw.nl
authors.forename: Rutger J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hassink
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Dowell
authors.forename: Aart
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brutel de la Rivière
authors.forename: Pieter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Doevendans
authors.forename: Loren J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Field
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D032386:Myoblasts, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation