title: Repeated implantation is a more effective cell delivery method in skeletal myoblast transplantation for rat myocardial infarction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several clinical trials are underway to determine whether autologous skeletal myoblast transplantation is an effective and safe therapeutic strategy for severe heart failure due to myocardial infarction (MI). It remains unclear whether repeated skeletal myoblast implantation is a feasible and effective cell delivery method for the infarcted myocardium.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four weeks after a coronary ligation, male syngeneic Lewis rats were assigned to 3 treatment groups: 3 episodes of skeletal myoblasts (6x10(6)) transplantation (group I), a bolus transplantation of myoblasts (18x10(6)) (group II), or culture medium injection (group III). Eight weeks after the first treatment, echocardiography, cardiac catheterization and histological examination were performed to compare the therapeutic effects on left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic functions, and the engrafted myoblast volume. Repeated myoblast implantation significantly improved LV function and resulted in significantly larger engrafted volume and LV contractility compared with a bolus transplantation with the same number of myoblasts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Repeated skeletal myoblast transplantation is a safe and effective therapeutic strategy for the infarcted myocardium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: Goditha U
authors.initials: GU
authors.lastname: Premaratne
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tambara
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kanemitsu
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Genichi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D032448:Myoblasts, Skeletal / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D020257:Ventricular Remodeling