Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stems cells and cardiac repair

Cardiovascular disease continues to be the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While pharmaceutical agents and interventional strategies have contributed greatly to therapy, new and superior treatment modalities are urgently needed given the overall disease burden. In this regard, therapy with adult stem cells has shown great promise toward inducing infarct repair and restoring cardiac function. Because of their inherent multipotent nature and the ability to secrete a multitude of growth factors and cytokines, adult bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) have been utilized for cardiac repair with encouraging

Numerous animal studies have established the feasibility and efficacy of this approach with further definition of molecular pathways underlying the reparative benefits. Early clinical trials have also confirmed the safety and efficacy of BMMSC therapy in patients with acute MI as well as ischemic heart failure. Following a brief historical perspective and description of the biological features of BMMSCs, this review will focus on the evidence from preclinical and clinical studies of cardiac repair with BMMSCs, the underlying mechanisms, and various cellular modification strategies aimed at enhancing the outcomes.