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Brain & Heart

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
The future of cardiac care: How stem cells are

revolutionizing cardiovascular disease treatment

Aliki Iliadou *, Panteleimon Pantelidis 2 , Athina Goliopoulou 2 ,
1
Ioannis Gialamas 2 , Georgios E. Zakynthinos 2 , Georgios Paparoidamis 3 ,
Evangelos Oikonomou 2 , and Georgios Koliakos 1
1 Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University
of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
3 University Department of Cardiology, Chest Disease Hospital “Sotiria”, Medical School, National
2 rd
and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
3 University Department of Orthopaedics, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
3 rd
Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major global health issue, with current
treatments often insufficient for addressing long-term cardiac damage. Stem cell
therapy provides a promising alternative by potentially repairing damaged heart
tissue and improving cardiac function. This review highlights recent advancements
in stem cell applications for CVDs, focusing on heart tissue regeneration using various
cell types, including mesenchymal stem cells and the newly discovered very small
embryonic-like stem cells. Each cell type has unique characteristics that contribute
to heart regeneration. Combining these cells with appropriate natural, synthetic, or
*Corresponding author: decellularized scaffolds creates environments that better mimic the heart, resulting
Aliki Iliadou
(ailiadou@auth.gr) in improved outcomes. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic
repeat/Cas9 gene editing technology advances these efforts by enabling precise
Citation: Iliadou A, Pantelidis P, genetic modifications. Despite these advancements, challenges such as cell culture
Goliopoulou A, et al. The future
of cardiac care: How stem cells variability, biomaterial selection, and clinical protocol standardization remain.
are revolutionizing cardiovascular Continued research and clinical trials are crucial to overcome these challenges and
disease treatment. Brain & Heart. integrate stem cell therapies into standard cardiac care.
2024;2(4):4521.
doi: 10.36922/bh.4521
Received: August 14, 2024 Keywords: Cardiac tissue engineering; Heart tissue regeneration; Stem cells; Very small
Accepted: October 29, 2024 embryonic-like stem cells; Stem cell therapy; Cardiac function
Published Online: November 20,
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death worldwide, with the
Creative Commons Attribution World Health Organization reporting 17.9 million deaths in 2019, which accounted for
License, permitting distribution,
1
and reproduction in any medium, 32% of global deaths. Although lifestyle changes and medications aid in the prevention
provided the original work is of CVDs, secondary treatments for coronary artery disease (CAD) still face limitations.
properly cited. Techniques such as percutaneous coronary intervention, thrombolysis, and coronary
Publisher’s Note: AccScience artery bypass grafting can restore blood flow but cannot reverse the permanent damage
Publishing remains neutral with caused by heart attacks, often resulting in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Surgical options such as ventriculoplasty and heart transplants are limited in either
affiliations. scope or availability. Alternatives such as xenotransplantation and artificial hearts

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/bh.4521