Myoblast transplantation can repair heart damage

Myocardial regeneration is an exciting new frontier for the treatment of heart disease. Many approaches are currently being tested. The use of autologous skeletal myoblasts has been the earliest, with over 10 years of research having been conducted. Current progress in the area of skeletal myoblasts for cardiac regeneration is presented. Reviewed is work from both pre-clinical and clinical studies. Work in this area continues to progress and definitive studies to assess efficacy of myoblasts for heart failure either have been initiated or will be initiated shortly. One result that is clear is that myoblasts can survive and form myotubes and myofibers in the area of myocardial infarction. In the early clinical trials, arrhythmia was a concern. However, further studies have shown that the risk was assumed prematurely based on limited human studies. Myoblasts, therefore, provide a highly promising treatment for heart disease.