Cardiac stem cells, which have the ability to differentiate (specialize) into mature heart cells and therefore could be used to repair damaged or diseased heart tissue, have garnered significant interest in the development of treatments for heart disease and cardiac defects. Cardiac stem cells can be derived from mature cardiomyocytes through the process of dedifferentiation, in which mature heart cells are stimulated to revert to a stem cell state. The stem cells can then be stimulated to redifferentiate into myocytes or endothelial cells. This approach enables millions of cardiac stem cells to be produced in the laboratory.

In 2009 a team of doctors at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, California, reported the first attempted use of cardiac stem cell transplantation to repair damaged heart tissue. The team removed a small section of tissue from the heart of a patient who had suffered a heart attack, and the tissue was cultured in a laboratory. Cells that had been stimulated to dedifferentiate were then used to produce millions of cardiac stem cells, which were later reinfused directly into the heart of the patient through a catheter in a coronary artery. A similar approach was used in a subsequent clinical trial reported in 2011; this trial involved 14 patients suffering from heart failure who were scheduled to undergo cardiac bypass surgery. More than three months after treatment, there was slight but detectable improvement over cardiac bypass surgery alone in left ventricle ejection fraction (the percentage of the left ventricular volume of blood that is ejected from the heart with each ventricular contraction).

Stem cells derived from bone marrow, the collection of which is considerably less invasive than heart surgery, are also of interest in the development of regenerative heart therapies. The collection and reinfusion into the heart of bone marrow-derived stem cells within hours of a heart attack may limit the amount of damage incurred by the muscle.

There are many types of arterial diseases. Some are generalized and affect arteries throughout the body, though often there is variation in the degree they are affected. Others are localized. These diseases are frequently divided into those that result in arterial occlusion (blockage) and those that are nonocclusive in their manifestations.

Atherosclerosis, the most common form of arteriosclerosis, is a disease found in large and medium-sized arteries. It is characterized by the deposition of fatty substances, such as cholesterol, in the innermost layer of the artery (the intima). As the fat deposits become larger, inflammatory white blood cells called macrophages try to remove the lipid deposition from the wall of the artery. However, lipid-filled macrophages, called foam cells, grow increasingly inefficient at lipid removal and undergo cell death, accumulating at the site of lipid deposition. As these focal lipid deposits grow larger, they become known as atherosclerotic plaques and may be of variable distribution and thickness. Under most conditions the incorporation of cholesterol-rich lipoproteins is the predominant factor in determining whether or not plaques progressively develop. The endothelial injury that results (or that may occur independently) leads to the involvement of two cell types that circulate in the bloodplatelets and monocytes (a type of white blood cell). Platelets adhere to areas of endothelial injury and to themselves. They trap fibrinogen, a plasma protein, leading to the development of platelet-fibrinogen thrombi. Platelets deposit pro-inflammatory factors, called chemokines, on the vessel walls. Observations of infants and young children suggest that atherosclerosis can begin at an early age as streaks of fat deposition (fatty streaks).

Atherosclerotic lesions are frequently found in the aorta and in large aortic branches. They are also prevalent in the coronary arteries, where they cause coronary artery disease. The distribution of lesions is concentrated in points where arterial flow gives rise to abnormal shear stress or turbulence, such as at branch points in vessels. In general the distribution in most arteries tends to be closer to the origin of the vessel, with lesions found less frequently in more distal sites. Hemodynamic forces are particularly important in the system of coronary arteries, where there are unique pressure relationships. The flow of blood through the coronary system into the heart muscle takes place during the phase of ventricular relaxation (diastole) and virtually not at all during the phase of ventricular contraction (systole). During systole the external pressure on coronary arterioles is such that blood cannot flow forward. The external pressure exerted by the contracting myocardium on coronary arteries also influences the distribution of atheromatous obstructive lesions.

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cardiovascular disease :: Cardiac stem cells | Britannica.com