Allogeneic administration of fetal membrane-derived mesenchymal stem cells attenuates acute myocarditis in rats

► Previously, we reported that the autologous administration of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) significantly attenuated myocardial dysfunction and injury in a rat model of acute myocarditis. But BM aspiration procedures are invasive and can yield low numbers of MSC after processing. ► In this study, we focused on fetal membranes (FMs) as an alternative source of BM-MSC to provide a large number of cells. ► This study showed that the intravenous allogeneic administration of FM-MSC ameliorated cardiac dysfunction in a rat model of acute myocarditis. These beneficial effects may be mainly attributable to the suppression of T-lymphocyte activation rather than to angiogenesis and cardiomyocyte differentiation of the administrated allogeneic FM-MSC. ► These results suggest that allogeneic administration of FM-MSC might provide a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of acute myocarditis.