Myocardial infarction and stem cells – National Center for …

J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2011 Apr-Jun; 3(2): 182188.

1Department of Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur - 522 510, India

2Department of Medicine, Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Enathur, Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu, India

3Institute for Scientific Research and Technology Services, National Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation, Clayton City of Knowledge, 0843-01103, Republic of Panam

Received December 23, 2010; Revised February 24, 2011; Accepted March 10, 2011.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Permanent loss of cardiomyocytes and scar tissue formation after myocardial infarction (MI) results in an irreversible damage to the cardiac function. Cardiac repair (replacement, restoration, and regeneration) is, therefore, essential to restore function of the heart following MI. Existing therapies lower early mortality rates, prevent additional damage to the heart muscle, and reduce the risk of further heart attacks. However, there is need for treatment to improve the infarcted area by replacing the damaged cells after MI. Thus, the cardiac tissue regeneration with the application of stem cells may be an effective therapeutic option. Recently, interest is more inclined toward myocardial regeneration with the application of stem cells. However, the potential benefits and the ability to improve cardiac function with the stem cell-based therapy need to be further addressed. In this review, we focus on the clinical applications of stem cells in the cardiac repair.

Keywords: Cardiomyocytes, myocardial infarction, stem cells, stem cell transplantation

Myocardial infarction (heart attack; abbreviated as "MI") remains a major clinical problem and the leading causes of mortality in the world. In the United States alone, approximately 1 million people suffer MI each year. In the UK, the annual incidence of MI (using 2006 CHD mortality data) was estimated to be about 146 000 of all aged individuals (men: ~87 000 and women: ~59 000), and the estimated prevalence in those aged >35 years is more than 1.4 million (men: ~970 000 and women: ~439 000).[1] MI can be defined by pathology as myocardial cell death due to prolonged ischemia.[2] The most common cause of MI is coronary atherosclerotic plaque rupture or erosion, resulting in the exposure of thrombogenic contents to the blood. This leads to thrombus formation and consequently MI. Several risk factors are associated with MI as listed below.

The risk factors include

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Myocardial infarction and stem cells - National Center for ...