Wharton’s jelly or bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells improve cardiac function following myocardial infarction for more than 32 weeks in a rat model: a preliminary report

The therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) following myocardial infarction (MI) is small. This may be due to differences in cellular sources and donor age, route of administration, in vitro cellular manipulations and the short time course of follow up in many animal studies. Here, we compared MSCs from two different sources (adult bone marrow or Wharton’s jelly from umbilical cord) for their long-term therapeutic effect following MI in a rat model to evaluate the effect of donor age. MSCs (or control infusions) were given intravenously 24-48 hr after myocardial ischemia (MI) induced by coronary artery ligation. Cardiac function was assessed by ultrasound at time points starting from before MSC infusion through 68 weeks after MI. A significant improvement in ejection fraction was seen in animals that received MSCs in time points 25 to 31 wks after treatment (p <0.01). These results support previous work that show that MSCs can cause improvement in cardiac function and extend that work by showing that the beneficial effects are durable. To investigate MSCs’ cardiac differentiation potential, Wharton’s jelly MSCs were co-cultured with fetal or adult bone-derived marrow MSCs. When Wharton’s jelly MSCs were co-cultured with fetal MSCs, and not with adult MSCs, myotube structures were observed in two-three days and spontaneous contractions (beating) cells were observed in fiveseven days. The beating structures formed a functional syncytium indicated by coordinated contractions (beating) of independent nodes. Taken together, these results suggest that MSCs given 24-48 hr after MI have a significant and durable beneficial effect more than 25 weeks after MI and that MSC treatment can home to damaged tissue and improve heart function after intravenous infusion 24-48 hrs after MI, and that WJCs may be a useful source for off-the-shelf cellular therapy for MI

A radiographic measurement of left atrial size in dogs

The dimensions of the left atrium in cases with mitral regurgitation are an indirect measurement of its severity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the value of a new radiographic measurement, the radiographic left atrial dimension (RLAD), for detecting left atrial enlargement (LAE) in dogs. Thirty one dogs without LAE and 46 dogs with LAE were recruited in a prospective fashion. Reference left atrium dimension was measured by standard left atrium to aorta ratio (LA/Ao) by 2D echocardiography. LAE was considered if LA/Ao > 1.6. Left atrium dimension was then quantified on lateral radiographs by measuring RLAD. Vertebral heart size (VHS) was measured and RLAD was obtained by drawing a line bisecting the 90 degrees angle defined by the long and short cardiac axes lines of the VHS, up to the dorsal edge of the left atrium and comparing its length to T4’s vertebral body length. The correlation of VHS and RLAD methods with LA/Ao was estimated, as well as their sensitivity and specificity for detecting LAE. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to estimate the optimal decision criteria for each method

Longitudinal Analysis of Quality of Life, Clinical, Radiographic, Echocardiographic, and Laboratory Variables in Dogs with Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease Receiving Pimobendan or Benazepril: The QUEST Study

Peer reviewe

International collaborative study to assess cardiovascular risk and evaluate long-term health in cats with preclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and apparently healthy cats:The REVEAL Study

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most prevalent heart disorder in cats and principal cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Yet, the impact of preclinical disease is unresolved. Hypothesis/Objectives: Observational study to characterize cardiovascular morbidity and survival in cats with preclinical nonobstructive (HCM) and obstructive (HOCM) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and in apparently healthy cats (AH). Animals: One thousand seven hundred and thirty client-owned cats (430 preclinical HCM; 578 preclinical HOCM; 722 AH). Methods: Retrospective multicenter, longitudinal, cohort study. Cats from 21 countries were followed through medical record review and owner or referring veterinarian interviews. Data were analyzed to compare long-term outcomes, incidence, and risk for congestive heart failure (CHF), arterial thromboembolism (ATE), and cardiovascular death. Results: During the study period, CHF, ATE, or both occurred in 30.5% and cardiovascular death in 27.9% of 1008 HCM/HOCM cats. Risk assessed at 1, 5, and 10 years after study entry was 7.0%/3.5%, 19.9%/9.7%, and 23.9%/11.3% for CHF/ATE, and 6.7%, 22.8%, and 28.3% for cardiovascular death, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between HOCM compared with HCM for cardiovascular morbidity or mortality, time from diagnosis to development of morbidity, or cardiovascular survival. Cats that developed cardiovascular morbidity had short survival (mean \ub1 standard deviation, 1.3 \ub1 1.7 years). Overall, prolonged longevity was recorded in a minority of preclinical HCM/HOCM cats with 10% reaching 9-15 years. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Preclinical HCM/HOCM is a global health problem of cats that carries substantial risk for CHF, ATE, and cardiovascular death. This finding underscores the need to identify therapies and monitoring strategies that decrease morbidity and mortality