REVIEWS  HEART FAILURE 

Minerva Cardioangiologica 2003 April;51(2):227-44

Copyright © 2003 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Cardiac transplantation of skeletal myoblasts for heart failure

Van Den Bos E. J., Taylor D. A.

Heart failure has become the most prevalent cardiovascular syndrome, and its incidence continues to increase. Most cases of heart failure develop as a result of myocardial infarction. Although current treatment modalities have brought us the opportunity to reduce mortality and morbidity after myocardial infarction, our progress has plateaued due to our inability to treat the underlying problem, death of cardiomyocytes. Recently, a new option has emerged. Transplantation of undifferentiated cells into the damaged heart is a promising new treatment modality. These cells may have the capability of adapting to the cardiac environment, regenerating the damaged muscle, restoring cardiac function and preventing transition to heart failure. During the last few years many cell types have been proposed for cardiac repair and promising pre-clinical studies have moved some of these into the clinic. The most widely studied cell type is the progenitor cell of adult muscle, or the myoblast. When transplanted into the heart myoblasts are able to engraft and to a large degree regenerate the infarcted area. Although the feasibility of myoblast transplantation has been proven in animal models of infarction, many questions remain unanswered. In this review we will try to present an overview of where intracardiac myoblast transplantation stands and where it is heading. We also provide our insight into the future potential for myoblast transplantation clinically.