Amniotic fluid stem cells for cardiac regeneration

Abstract

In recent years cardiac regenerative medicine has emerged as a fast-developing exploratory field with tremendous potential to treat end-stage heart disease. Different approaches have been investigated for the repair of cardiovascular ischemic injuries such as myocardial infarction, in order to improve heart performance in the long term. In this scenario, stem cell-based medicine has received a lot of attention, and several stem sources have been evaluated to identify the most suitable therapeutic approach. Cardiac regeneration has become a multidisciplinary research area based primarily on different stem cell- and tissue engineering-based strategies, with the ultimate goal of preventing or reversing heart failure. Amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells are broadly multipotent and clonogenic cells which have emerged as a potent therapeutic agent in regenerative medicine and which can be easily obtained throughout pregnancy from surplus samples taken for prenatal diagnostic procedures. In this chapter we will discuss the most significant findings in the field of stem cell therapy for cardiac regeneration, focusing on the recent results using AFS cells.