New therapeutic advances in the treatment of myocardial infarction

Using cellularized collagen patches to repair cardiac function after a heart attack. Iñigo Pérez Estenaga (Estella, 33 years old) has defended his doctoral thesis on this therapeutic system that could contribute to improving the quality of life of patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction. This research, which has been developed in the Department of Regenerative Medicine of the Cima University of Navarra and has the collaboration of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Viscofan, 3P Biophamaceuticals and the Hospital Gregorio Marañón, is in phase I clinical trial. 

Dr. Pérez Estenaga has focused his research on the generation of a collagen patch that contributes to repairing cardiac function after an infarction, and has observed that "this system does not produce any type of rejection or toxicological or tumorogenic reaction in murine and porcine models, and also significantly improves the parameters of cardiac function, which are diminished after infarction".

On the other hand, and within the same research, a detailed study has been carried out in the laboratory on the effect produced by these patches and it has been observed that their therapeutic action "is due to a potent immunomodulatory action exerted by the ADSC cells seeded on them at a local level". In addition, using a novel strategy and thanks to the collaboration established with the University of Galway (Ireland), the SDF-1 protein has been added to the collagen membranes allowing its release in the infarct zone and generating a therapeutic effect.

The main novelty of this study lies in the "combination of cells with collagen membranes of medical quality and totally biocompatible", which would make possible the application in animal models and later in patients. Another novelty is the use of allogeneic cells -which come from healthy donors- where it has been observed that "there is no immunological rejection of these cells by the host organism, which will make it possible to have stocks of cells stored and optimized for immediate use in patients who need them".

For Iñigo Pérez, the future of this research must be linked to two paths: on the one hand, testing at the clinical level to verify the safety and efficacy of this proposed treatment; and on the other hand, optimizing in the laboratory the therapeutic effect of the collagen patches functionalized with cytokines such as SDF-1 and applying it in a porcine model. "The possibility of improving impaired cardiac function after the ischemic event involves testing these "new cell therapies", first in-vitro in the laboratory, then in experimental animal models and finally in patients". 

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of mortality in developed countries and myocardial infarction is the most prevalent. For this researcher from Navarra, the study of new cell therapy treatments could contribute to improving the quality of life of patients who suffer a heart attack.

Bibliographic reference

Pérez-Estenaga, I.; Prósper, F.; Pelacho, B. Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Biomaterials: The Perfect Match for Cardiac Repair? Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19, 3236. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19103236.