Intravenous acellular human amniotic fluid prevents ischemic cardiac remodeling

Amniotic products are potent immunomodulators used clinically to repair tissue injury. This study sought to determine the impact of acellular human amniotic fluid (hAF) on cardiac remodeling. Amniotic fluid was obtained from volunteer donors at the time of elective caesarean section, proprietarily processed into a sterile filtered acellular hAF, and administered to rats following coronary ligation. Compared to controls, hAF treated animals had a nearly sixfold decrease in both infarct size and fibrosis. Under hypoxic stress, hAF-treated H9C2 cells demonstrated higher cell viability and mitochondrial membrane stability and less apoptosis compared to saline-treated cells. Here we demonstrate that a single intravenous dose of acellular hAF provides functional cardioprotection that is mechanistically associated with cellular tolerance to hypoxic insult likely afforded by the plethora of naturally produced cytokines, chemokines, and immune-modulating proteins present in hAF. The ubiquitous availability of acellular hAF offers promising potential for its use as a cardioprotective adjunct.