Stem cells in clinical practice for cardiovascular diseases

IntroductionAccording to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, 17.3 million people died from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in 2008, representing 30% of all global deaths, and almost 23.6 million people will die from CVDs by 2030. CVDs remain the predominant cause of mortality worldwide.AimIn this review, the authors discuss the current strategies and therapies targeting stem cells in CVDs.Material and methodsIn this paper we present an overview of stem cell therapy for CVD and discuss the challenges these three areas present for maximum optimization of the efficacy of stem cell therapy for heart disease, and new strategies in progress.DiscussionVarious kinds of therapeutic methods have been studied to improve prognosis in cardiovascular diseases. Stem cells comprise an enormous opportunity to rebuild damaged tissues. Most of the application and clinical trials involve the various types of stem cells derived mainly from bone marrow and others sources of mesenchymal stem cells. Early data from these trials have produced mixed results often showing minor or transitory improvements.ConclusionsThe divergences are attributed to differences in cell preparations, the large number of stem cell types under investigation in different clinical settings, timing, methods of cell administration and characteristics of patients.