title: Adipose-derived stromal cell therapy improves cardiac function after coronary occlusion in rats.
abstract: Recent studies have identified adipose tissue as a new source of mesenchymal stem cells for therapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapy with adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) in a rat model of healed myocardial infarction (MI). ASCs from inguinal subcutaneous  adipose tissue of male Wistar rats were isolated by enzymatic digestion and filtration. Cells were then cultured until passage 3. Four weeks after ligation of the left coronary artery of female rats, a suspension of either 100 µl with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) + Matrigel + 2 ×  10(6) ASCs labeled with Hoechst (n = 11) or 100 µl of PBS + Matrigel (n = 10) was injected along the borders of the ventricular wall scar tissue. A sham-operated group (n = 5) was submitted to the same surgical procedure except permanent ligation of left  coronary artery. Cardiac performance was assessed by electro- and echocardiogram. Echo was performed prior to injections (baseline, BL) and 6 weeks after injections (follow-up, FU), and values after treatment were normalized by values obtained before treatment. Hemodynamic measurements were  performed 6 weeks after injections. All infarcted animals exhibited cardiac function impairment. Ejection fraction (EF), shortening fractional area (SFA), and left ventricular akinesia (LVA) were similar between infarcted groups before treatment. Six weeks after therapy, ASC group showed significant  improvement in all three ECHO indices in comparison to vehicle group. In anesthetized animals dp/dt(+) was also significantly higher in ASCs when compared to vehicle. In agreement with functional improvement, scar area was diminished in the ASC group. We conclude that ASCs improve  cardiac function in infarcted rats when administered directly to the myocardium.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiza L S
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Bagno
authors.forename: João Pedro S
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Werneck-de-Castro
authors.forename: Patrícia F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Márcia S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cunha-Abreu
authors.forename: Nazareth N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Taís H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kasai-Brunswick
authors.forename: Vivian M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Lago
authors.forename: Regina C S
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Antonio C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Campos-de-Carvalho
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar