A comparison in therapeutic efficacy of several time points of intravenous StemBell administration in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: Adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) are a promising new therapeutic option for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Previously, we found that ASCs coupled to antibody-targeted microbubbles (StemBells [StBs]) improved cardiac function when administered intravenously 7 days post-AMI in rats. In this study, we compared the efficacy of intravenous StB administration at different administration time points following AMI in rats.

METHODS: AMI, followed by reperfusion, was induced in four groups of male Wistar rats, which subsequently received an intravenous 1 × 106 StB bolus 1 day post-AMI (StB1; n = 8), 7 days post-AMI (StB7; n = 9), at both time points (StB1+7; n = 7) or neither (Control; n = 7). The effect onrdiac function was determined using echocardiography prior to AMI, 7 days post-AMI and 42 days post-AMI. The effect on infarct size and macrophages in the infarct core were determined (immuno)histochemically 42 days post-AMI.

RESULTS: At 42 days post-AMI, all three StB groups had a significantly improved fractional shortening compared with the control group. Between the StB-treated groups, the effects did not differ significantly at 42 days post-AMI. At 7 days post-AMI, the StB1 group had a significantly improved fractional shortening compared with the control and StB7 groups. No significant changes in infarct size or macrophage numbers were found compared with the control group for any StB group.

CONCLUSIONS: StB administration resulted in long-term improvement of cardiac function, independent of the time point of administration. When administered at 1 day post-AMI, this improvement was already evident at 7 days post-AMI.