title: Potential benefits of cell therapy in coronary heart disease.
abstract: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest both in basic and clinical research regarding the field of cell therapy for coronary heart disease (CHD). Several preclinical models of CHD have suggested that regenerative properties of stem and progenitor cells might help restoring myocardial functions in the event of cardiac diseases. Here, we summarize different types of stem/progenitor cells that have been tested in experimental and clinical settings of cardiac regeneration, from embryonic stem cells to induced pluripotent stem cells. Then, we provide a comprehensive description of the most common cell delivery strategies with their major pros and cons and underline the potential of tissue engineering and injectable matrices to address the crucial issue of restoring the three-dimensional structure of the injured myocardial region. Due to the encouraging results from preclinical models, the number of clinical trials with cell therapy is continuously increasing and includes patients with CHD and congestive heart failure. Most of the already published trials have demonstrated safety and feasibility of cell therapies in these clinical conditions. Several studies have also suggested that cell therapy results in improved clinical outcomes. Numerous ongoing clinical trials utilizing this therapy for CHD will address fundamental issues concerning cell source and population utilized, as well as the use of imaging techniques to assess cell homing and survival, all factors that affect the efficacy of different cell therapy strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and General Pathology, Excellence Research Centre on Cardiovascular Disease, U.O.C. Immunohematology, 1st School of Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
authors.forename: Francesco Paolo
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Amelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casamassimi
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Omran
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zullo
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Infante
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Napoli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060846:Cell Engineering; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D019899:Paracrine Communication / Q000502:physiology; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cell delivery; Cell therapy; Clinical trials; Coronary heart disease; Stem cells