title: Perfusion defect size predicts engraftment but not early retention of intra-myocardially injected cardiosphere-derived cells after acute myocardial infarction.
abstract: Therapeutic cell retention and engraftment are critical for myocardial regeneration. Underlying mechanisms, including the role of tissue perfusion, are not well understood. In Wistar Kyoto rats, syngeneic cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) were injected intramyocardially, after experimental myocardial infarction. CDCs were labeled with [(18)F]-FDG (n = 7), for quantification of 1-h retention, or with sodium-iodide-symporter gene (NIS; n = 8), for detection of 24-h engraftment by reporter imaging. Perfusion was imaged simultaneously. Infarct size was 37 ± 9 and 38 ± 9% of LV in FDG and NIS groups. Cell signal was located in the infarct border zone in all animals. No significant relationship was observed between infarct size and 1-h CDC retention (r = -0.65; P = 0.11). However, infarct size correlated significantly with 24-h engraftment (r = 0.75; P = 0.03). Residual perfusion at the injection site was not related to cell retention/engraftment. Larger infarcts are associated with improved CDC engraftment. This observation encourages further investigation of microenvironmental conditions after ischemic damage and their role in therapeutic cell survival.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Riikka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lautamäki
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Terrovitis
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonios
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Benjamin M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Tsui
authors.forename: M Roselle
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Frank M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Bengel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000637:transplantation*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D012038:Regeneration