Safety and efficacy of autologous thymosin β4 pre-treated endothelial progenitor cell transplantation in patients with acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction: A pilot study

• Published in: Cytotherapy (Oxford, England) Vol. 18; no. 8; pp. 1037 - 1042
• Main Authors: Zhu, Junhui, Song, Jiale, Yu, Lu, Zheng, Hao, Zhou, Binquan, Weng, Shaoxiang, Fu, Guosheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01.08.2016
• Subjects: acute myocardial infarction; Advanced Basic Science; Aged; endothelial progenitor cell; Endothelial Progenitor Cells - drug effects; Endothelial Progenitor Cells - transplantation; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Other; Pilot Projects; ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction - therapy; Stem Cell Transplantation - adverse effects; Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Thymosin - pharmacology; thymosin β4; transplantation; Transplantation Conditioning; Transplantation, Autologous - adverse effects; Treatment Outcome; Ventricular Function, Left - physiology; endothelial progenitor cell; thymosin β4; acute myocardial infarction; transplantation
• ISSN: 1465-3249; 1477-2566
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcyt.2016.05.006

AbstractBackgroundExperimental studies and clinical trials suggest that endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) transplantation can repair “broken” heart. However, transplantation of autologous EPCs has numerous limitations, including the limited supply of expanded EPCs, the impaired function and activity of the transplanted cells and so on. Therefore, we investigated the feasibility, safety and initial clinical outcome of autologous thymosin β4 (Tβ4) pre-treated EPC transplantation in patients with acute ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).MethodsTen patients with STEMI were included; they were randomized to 2 groups: EPC transplantation group (control group; n = 5) and Tβ4-pre-treated EPC transplantation group (experimental group; n = 5). EPCs were pre-treated with Tβ4 24 hours before transplantation in experimental group. Cardiac function was evaluated using echocardiography and emission computed tomography, as well as the 6-min walking test before and 6 months after the intervention.ResultsAfter 6 months of follow-up, the average 6-min walking distance was increased by 38.2 m (from 263 ± 42 m to 302 ± 34 m) in the control group and 75.7 m (from 264 ± 42 m to 340 ± 44 m) in the experimental group; the average difference of the 6-min walking distance was 37.5 m (95% confidence interval [CI], 28.7–56.3 m; P  < 0.01). In addition, the cardiac function in the experimental group was more significantly improved than that of the control group. There were no severe complications related to the procedure in either group during the follow-up. DiscussionOur pilot study suggested that Tβ4-optimized EPC transplantation appeared to be feasible and safe, and might have beneficial effects on exercise capacity and left ventricular function in patients with STEMI.