Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular Disease

Stem Cells from Adipose Tissue

Executive summary: Cardiology

Myocardial infarction (MI) causes the loss of cardiac tissue and scar formation, which ultimately lead to heart failure. According to the World Health Organization, heart failure initiated by MI and coronary artery disease accounts for 29% of deaths worldwide. However, human heart tissue does not regenerate spontaneously, thus „regenerative medicine“ represents a promising alternative treatment for MI. Cardiac tissue regenerative medicine involves cardiomyocyte regeneration, neovascularization, and paracrine cytokines, which have anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-remodeling effects. During the last decade, stem cells have become promising candidates for regenerative medicine not only because of their capacity of differentiation toward cardiomyocyte and vascular cell lineages but also their capacity for releasing such paracrine factors and their anti-arrhythmic effects. Paracrine cytokines and chemokines play pivotal roles in stem cell related cardiac repair mechanisms.