New cell therapies in cardiology

Even today, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally. Cardiological conditions such as myocardial infarction, ischemic injury and chronic cardiomyopathy result in permanent cardiac tissue damage followed by heart failure. Current therapies primarily aim to trigger the pathological remodeling that occurs after cardiac injury and also to reduce risk factors involved in cardiovascular diseases. Animal model studies over the last decade indicate that the systematic administration of autologous and allogeneic stem cells possesses therapeutic potential to improve overall cardiac functions. This evidence robustly indicates that cardiac tissue has the potential to undergo a systematic repair process. The past few years have also witnessed a splurge in clinical research that particularly aims to explore the regenerative properties of the naive stem cells to restore cardiac functions. The mechanisms involved in stem cell therapy remain unclear. The magnitude of benefit demonstrated in animal models is yet to be completely translated into humans. The future of cardiac research will require tangible synchrony between clinicians and basic scientists to unravel the precise mechanism of stem cell therapy. It is also pivotal to define an ideal cell type and a suitable cell delivery technique that provide maximum benefit, while eliminating the grey areas in translational cardiology research. In this article, the authors review the properties and therapeutic potential of the stem cell plethora reported for cardiac repair and regeneration, recent stem cell therapies, mode of action, their delivery techniques, recent clinical developments and the future for these stem cell therapies in cardiology.