The use of biologics in the management of cardiovascular diseases

- This review describes some of the newest biologic therapeutics being evaluated in the management of cardiovascular disease.
- The use of mesenchymal stem cells is becoming a very attractive therapeutic option for the treatment of myocardial infarction and heart failure.
- MicroRNAs are rapidly being developed to manage a large number of diseases including cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure.

The use of biologic agents including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, non-coding RNAs (miRNAs), gene therapy and, especially, stem cell therapy have revolutionized the treatment of a variety of diseases. Most notably, success in treating cancers have been achieved using hematopoietic stem cell therapy. Use of these agents in the treatment of cardiovascular disease is still in its infancy but recent advances have identified several new biologic agents. Current clinical trials are evaluating the success of stem cell therapy and fibroblast therapy as well as agents that either mimic or inhibit non-coding RNAs (miRNAs) as possible treatments for a several cardiac pathologies including heart failure, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease. This review will focus on the use of stem cells and miRNA agents to characterize the current status of these agents and describe some of the nuances that have led to the extraordinary interest in them as therapeutic agents.