Effects of mesenchymal stem cells with injectable scaffold on cardiac function in myocardial infarction in Rabbit

BACKGROUND: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal cellscan transdifferentiate into Cardiomyocyte cells and improveheart function after transplantation. Since biomaterials canimprove the cell retention in the site, cell survival and differentiation,heart tissue engineering is now being explored as anapplied solution to support cell-based therapies and increasetheir efficacy for myocardial diseases. Chitosan in combinationwith Glycerol Phosphate (GP) can produce a thermo sensitivematerial that in body temperature can form a jellylike material.OBJECTIVES:The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects ofa combination of autologous undifferentiated bone marrowmesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and injectable scaffold on cardiacfunction improvement in rabbits after inducing myocardialinfarction. METHODS: The Left Anterior Descending (LAD)coronary artery was ligated by No. 6-0 polyamide suturematerial, and autologous MSCs with injectable scaffold wereinjected into the margins of the infarcted zone at the time ofsurgery. At 4 weeks after transplantation, the cardiac functionand structure was detected using echocardiography. RESULTS:There was no significant difference among the three groups (MIonly, MI Scaffold, and MI+Scaffold+MSCs) in the Echocardiographicparameters including, heart rate (HR), Ejection Fraction(EF), Fractional Shortening (FS), Left Ventricular Diameter(LVD) and Left Ventricular Parietal Wall Diameter (LVPW).CONCLUSIONS: A combination of autologous undifferentiatedbone marrow MSCs and injectable scaffold made of Chitosan+Glycerol Phosphate in echocardiographic evaluation did nothave a positive influence on achieving functional improvement.