title: Shock waves activate in vitro cultured progenitors and precursors of cardiac cell lineages from the human heart.
abstract: Postischemic cardiomyopathy remains one of the disorders in urgent need of effective noninvasive therapy. It is currently accepted that the isolation, expansion and application of resident cardiac stem cells may hold therapeutic promise for the future. Recently, it has been demonstrated that shock waves (SW) could enhance the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor, Flt-1. As the development of angiogenic noninvasive therapy is very important for future therapeutic strategies in cardiovascular diseases, we examined in vitro, the effects of SW treatment on adult resident cardiac primitive cells isolated from bioptic fragments of normal human hearts and from explanted pathologic hearts with postischemic cardiomyopathy. This study demonstrates that SW have positive influence on both the proliferation and the differentiation of cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle and endothelial cells precursors, with a more obvious effect being evident in the cells from normal heart than in those taken from pathologic hearts. Our results suggest that SW treatment could inhibit or retard the pathologic remodeling and functional degradation of the heart if applied during the early stages of heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nurzynska
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Meglio
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castaldo
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arcucci
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marlinghaus
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Corrado
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Santo
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baldascino
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cotrufo
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montagnani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008096:Lithotripsy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers