Cell therapy for cardiac repair.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Western society. Among these diseases, congestive heart failure continues to be a significant health care burden. Recent medical and surgical advances in therapy have improved the quality and quantity of life for patients with heart failure. However, none of these therapies address the fundamental problem of loss of functional cardiomyocytes. Cell regeneration therapies have become an exciting potential treatment for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases. This emerging therapeutic field has been pursued experimentally with both embryonic-derived stem cells and adult-derived progenitor cells. The identification of resident cardiac progenitor cells has propelled the field of cardiac regenerative biology forward at astonishing rates. This review will examine current findings of various stem and progenitor cells that have been proposed as potential sources for cardiac regeneration, and the recent therapeutic findings from preliminary clinical trials using some of these cell types for cardiovascular repair.
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Cardiac Muscle Research Laboratory, Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Liao
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Sohn
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D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation