Cardiovascular Diseases: Recent Developments in Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

Advent of regenerative medicine has opened new therapeutic interventions for patients with cardiovascular diseases. The stem cell based cardiac repairing and regeneration along with improved vascularisation can improve diseased heart. Clinical studies over last decade have evaluated the cardiogenic potential of embryonic, induced pluripotent, cardiac, mesenchymal and bone marrow derived stem cells. The clinical studies have raised the hope of successful translation of regenerative cells from bench to bed side. Intrinsic factors guiding the stem cells to site of injury i.e. homing, transformation into cardiomyocytes, and angiogenesis have been assessed in recent years. However, complete understanding of mechanisms co-relating and regulating the process need to be explored. This review focuses on characteristics of stem cells under investigations, for clinical trials, analyzing safety, feasibility, efficacy and mechanism underlying cardio protective and cardio regenerative process. Further, the approaches involving scaffold based 3-dimensional cardiac generation will also be analysed