[Stem cells: searching predisposition to cardiac commitment by surface markers expression].

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

It is well-known that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, and represent an important economic burden to health systems. In an attempt to solve this problem, stem cell therapy has emerged as a therapeutic option. Within the last 20 years, a great variety of stem cells have been used in different myocardial infarction models. Up until now, the use of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) has seemed to be the best option, but the inaccessibility and scarcity of these cells make their use unreliable. Additionally, there is a high risk as they have to be obtained directly from the heart of the patient. Unlike CSCs, adult stem cells originating from bone marrow or adipose tissue, among others, appear to be an attractive option due to their easier accessibility and abundance, but particularly due to the probable existence of cardiac progenitors among their different sub-populations. In this review an analysis is made of the surface markers present in CSCs compared with other adult stem cells. This suggested the pre-existence of cells sharing specific surface markers with CSCs, a predictable immunophenotype present in some cells, although in low proportions, and with a potential of cardiac differentiation that could be similar to CSCs, thus increasing their therapeutic value. This study highlights new perspectives regarding MSCs that would enable some of these sub-pop

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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