Homogeneous transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of acute myocardial infarction in animal experiment

Objective To investigate the feasibility of homogeneous transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treatment of acute myocardial infarction. Methods Fifty rats were randomly separated into two groups including the control group (n=25) and the transplantation group (n=25). Myocardial infarction were made by liquid nitrogen freezing. The rat MSCs induced by 5-azacytidine (5-aza) and marked by BrdU were injected into the infarcted sites of the transplantation group. The same volume of DMEM solution was injected into the infarcted sites of the control group. Echocardiography was applied preoperatively, one week and four weeks after operation. Cardiac function was evaluated by Vs, LVEDV and LVEF. The transplantation rats were executed four weeks after operation and the transplanted cardiac muscles were harvested for immunohistochemistry. Results The cardiac function measured preoperatively and one week after operation had no statistical difference between the control group (n=13) and transplantation group (n=15) (P0.05). The cardiac function measured four weeks after operation had significant difference between the two groups (P0.05). The transplantation group had better cardiac function than the control. Immunohistochemistry found BrdU-marked cells. Conclusion The rat MSCs induced by 5-aza and later implanted into the rat infarcted cardiac musle can survive and improve the host's cardiac function.