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Stem cell transplantation as a therapy for cardiac fibrosis
Author(s) -
Elnakish Mohammad T,
Kuppusamy Periannan,
Khan Mahmood
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.4111
Subject(s) - fibrosis , extracellular matrix , paracrine signalling , medicine , cardiac fibrosis , transplantation , stem cell , heart failure , myocardial infarction , myocardial fibrosis , regeneration (biology) , stem cell therapy , pathology , cardiology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , receptor
Cardiac fibrosis is a fundamental constituent of most cardiac pathologies and represents the upshot of nearly all types of cardiac injury. Generally, fibrosis is a scarring process, characterized by accumulation of fibroblasts and deposition of increasing amounts of extracellular matrix ( ECM ) proteins in the myocardium. Therapeutic approaches that control fibroblast activity and evade maladaptive processes could represent a potential strategy to attenuate progression towards heart failure. Currently, cell therapy is actively perceived as an alternative to traditional pharmacological management of myocardial infarction ( MI ). The majority of the studies applying stem cell therapy following MI have demonstrated a decline in fibrosis. However, it was not clearly recognized whether the decline in cardiac fibrosis was due to replacement of dead cardiomyocytes or because of the direct effects of paracrine factors released from the transplanted stem cells on the ECM . Therefore, the main focus of this review is to discuss the impact of different types of stem cells on cardiac fibrosis and associated cardiac remodelling in a variety of experimental models of heart failure, particularly MI .