Bone marrow stem cells harvested from patient may improve angina

A nonsurgical treatment of a patient’s own bone marrow stem cells may help treat intractable angina pectoris, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions.

“We injected a ‘catalyst’ molecule that caused bone marrow stem cells to enter the patient’s blood, then harvested them to re-inject into the patient. This is not considered a surgical procedure, is easy to implement, and allows for repeated administrations,” Hadyanto Lim, PhD, professor of pharmacology at The Methodist University of Indonesia in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, said in a press release.

Lim and colleagues injected 15 patients (four women; age range, 50-78 years) with 5 µg/kg per day of granulocyte colony–stimulating factor for 4 days. Three hours after the last injection, leukapheresis was started, during which CD34+ cells were separated out and injected back into the patient.

After leukapheresis, IV peripheral blood CD34+ cells increased from 1.12 cells/µL to 104.42 cells/µL (P < .001), and white blood cell count also increased, from 7.82 x 10³/µL to 37.47 x 10³/µL (P < .001), according to the researchers.

At 4-week follow-up, patients had a lower rate of angina frequency (from 15.07 to 3.27; P < .001) and had a greater tolerance for exercise (from 5.9 minutes to 8.41 minutes; P < .001). One adverse effect observed in most patients was mild myalgia in the back or legs, which was successfully treated with acetaminophen.

Lim said in the release that this treatment is used for some cancers, but more research is needed before it can become available to the public for the treatment of angina. – by Tracey Romero

Reference:

Lim H, et al. Abstract 32. Presented at: Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions; July 18-21, 2016; Phoenix.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.