Recirculating delivery improves myocardial cell engraftment.
BACKGROUND
Despite pharmacological advances for heart failure, morbidity and mortality remain unacceptably high. As a result, alternative approaches such as cell therapy have been suggested to hold potential promise. However, a major obstacle is the optimization of cell delivery to the heart. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy of a percutaneous recirculation system for the delivery of cells to the heart.


METHODS
Ovine fibroblasts were delivered to the ovine heart (3 x 10(7) cells) using the V-Focus system, a "closed" recirculatory system that draws blood from the coronary sinus and returns it to the coronary artery via an oxygenator, or intracoronary (IC) infusion, followed by a 2-hour recovery period. Animals were euthanized and cardiac tissue collected to determine presence of cells.


RESULTS
There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the number of cells delivered to the heart by the V-Focus compared to direct coronary infusion for left ventricular freewall (V-Focus 1.39 +/- 0.63/mm(2), IC 0.11 +/- 0.06/mm(2)), septum (V-Focus 3.18 +/- 0.88/mm(2), IC 0.38 +/- 0.19/mm(2)), and right ventricle (V-Focus 0.46 +/- 0.23/mm(2), IC 0.05 +/- 0.04/mm(2)).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that potential therapeutic cells are optimally delivered to the large animal heart using the V-Focus cardiac delivery system in an ovine heart.
Byrne
Melissa J
MJ
Heart Failure Research Group, Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. melissa.byrne@bakeridi.edu.au
Zatta
Amanda
A
Galli
Cesere
C
Power
John M
JM
Kaye
David M
DM
D000818:Animals; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D005112:Extracorporeal Circulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005347:Fibroblasts; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology*; D012756:Sheep; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation
C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins