Transplantation of adipose derived stromal cells is associated with functional improvement in a rat model of chronic myocardial infarction

Aims: To determine the effect of transplantation of undifferentiated and cardiac pre-differentiated adipose stem cells compared with bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) in a chronic model of myocardial infarction. Methods: Ninety-five Sprague-Dawley rats underwent left coronary artery ligation and after I month received by direct intramyocardial injection either adipose derived stem cells (ADSC), cardiomyogenic cells (AD-CMG) or BM-MNC from enhanced-Green Fluorescent Protein (eGFP) mice. The control group was treated with culture medium. Heart function was assessed by echocardiography and F-18-FDG microPET. Cell engraftment, differentiation, angiogenesis and fibrosis in the scar tissue were also evaluated by (immuno)histochemistry and immunofluorescence. Results: One month after cell transplantation, ADSC induced a significant improvement in heart function (LVEF 46.3 +/- 9.6% versus 27.7 +/- 8% pre-transplant) and tissue viability (64.78 +/- 7.2% versus 55.89 +/- 6.3% pre-transplant). An increase in the degree of angiogenesis and a decrease in fibrosis were also detected. Although transplantation of AD-CMG or BM-MNC also had a positive, albeit smaller, effect on angiogenesis and fibrosis in the infarcted hearts, this benefit did not translate into a significant improvement in heart function or tissue viability. Conclusion: These results indicate that transplantation of adipose derived cells in chronic infarct provides a superior benefit to cardiac pre-differentiated ADSC and BM-MNC. (C) 2008 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.