Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cardiac Disease Prevention

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In the United States, around 20.1 million adults over the age of 20, or approximately 7.2% of the population, suffer from some type of cardiac disease. In 2020, more than 697,000 people lost their lives as a result of heart disease. This equates to one out of every five deaths.

On a global scale, approximately one out of every 14 people are living with some type of heart or circulatory disease. This equates to approximately 110 million men and 80 million women suffering from some form of cardiac disease across the globe. Approximately 20 million people around the world die every year as a result of cardiac disease.

Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people continue to be diagnosed across the globe every year. For this reason, it is critically important for doctors to develop some type of treatment to help prevent cardiac disease from developing. In order to do so, it is important to recognize how cardiac disease impacts the human body.

People who suffer from cardiac disease generally experience an array of symptoms and signs. Depending on the type of cardiac disease that a person suffers from, the symptoms may be different. There are several types of cardiac diseases that tend to be more common than others.

Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is a condition in which the heart's blood vessels become damaged and narrowed, causing the heart muscle to receive less oxygen-rich blood. Also known as ischemic heart disease, this condition affects approximately 3 million people in the United States annually. It can also create many health complications. These include:

Angina: This is a term used to describe pain in the chest that is caused by the restriction of blood flow to the heart muscle. Angina impacts approximately 3% of adults in the United States.
Heart attack: This occurs when the blood flow to the heart muscle is suddenly blocked. Every year approximately 800,000 people in the United States experience a heart attack.
Heart failure: This occurs when the heart loses its ability to pump blood around the human body correctly. Statistics show that approximately 6.5 million Americans over the age of 20 have heart failure.

People who suffer from coronary heart disease often experience pain in the chest, nausea, indigestion, sweating, and lightheadedness. Additionally, they may experience shortness of breath and a fast heart rate.

Coronary heart disease can generally be categorized in one of three ways. These include:

Obstructive coronary artery disease: this occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries and gradually narrows over time
Nonobstructive coronary artery disease: this can be caused by coronary muscle spasm, damage to the artery lining, a malfunction of the smaller artery branches, or the compression or squeezing of the coronary arteries
Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: this occurs when there is a tear in the wall of the coronary artery that either completely or partially blocks the flow of blood.

Treatment for this disease generally involves losing weight, eating a heart-healthy diet, and regularly exercising. Patients are also encouraged to quit smoking, reduce or eliminate alcohol intake, and sleep at least eight hours each night. Surgery and medication can also be used to treat coronary heart disease.

Strokes and Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA)

Strokes are another common cardiac disease. Strokes occur when the blood supply to a portion of the brain is cut off. This can result in brain damage or even death. Transient ischemic attacks, or mini strokes, are similar. However, the reduction of the flow of blood to the heart is only temporarily disrupted.

Every 40 seconds, at least one person in the country suffers a stroke. Every 3.5 minutes, at least one person dies from a stroke. Statistics show that approximately 795,000 people suffer strokes every year.

People who experience strokes often exhibit an array of symptoms. These symptoms generally impact various parts of their body. These include:

Facial drooping
Inability to lift the arms
Problems speaking, such as slurring or garbled words

Patients who suffer strokes will generally be given medication called a plasminogen activator. This medication is designed to break up existing blood clots and allow the flow of blood back to the brain. In some cases, surgery may be required. After a person suffers a stroke, they will most likely have to utilize various types of medications for the rest of their lives. These can include ace inhibitors, statins, anticoagulants, and Alteplase. Cardiac monitoring is also encouraged.

Vein and Artery Diseases

Peripheral artery disease, also called PAD, is a cardiac disease that impacts the arteries in the lower extremities of the body. This disease can lead to a reduced blood supply in the leg, which can result in pain, especially while walking. People who suffer from PAD are at an increased risk of suffering from heart attacks or strokes. Men generally have a higher risk than women. Aside from leg pain, patients who suffer from PAD can experience various other symptoms, including:

The loss of a pulse, or weak pulse, in the feet or legs
Leg skin that is shiny
Painful cramping in one or both calf muscles, hips, or thighs
Weakness or numbness in the legs
Cold feet or lower legs
Skin color changes
Hair loss or the delayed growth of hair

People who suffer from peripheral artery disease are often provided various forms of medications to help improve their condition. These include providing them with blood pressure drugs, cholesterol drugs, medications to prevent blood clots, medications to control blood sugar, or medication for leg pain. The type of treatment that a person receives for PAD will generally be determined by the cause of their condition.

The unfortunate truth is that all of the treatments currently available for cardiac disease are designed to be reactive rather than preventative.

However, given the fact that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, it is no surprise that its prevention is a major public health priority. Evidence indicates that umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells are a promising new therapy for cardiovascular disease. This is due to the fact that they have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types, and they have anti-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic properties.

What are Umbilical Cord Tissue Mesenchymal Stem Cells?

Umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells, also referred to as UCT-MSCs, are a type of adult stem cell that can be isolated from the umbilical cord. In most cases, scientists utilize the mesenchymal stem cells extracted from Wharton’s jelly, which is a gelatinous substance that protects the umbilical cord.

UCT-MSCs have the ability to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell types, which makes them a promising new potential therapeutic option for a variety of diseases. Due to the fact that there is no loss of life during the process of isolating umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells, they are considered to be ethical.

Using UCT-MSCs to Treat Cardiac Disease

Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UCT-MSCs) are a promising new tool for treating cardiac disease. UCT-MSCs have a number of advantages over other stem cell types, including their ability to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell types. Additionally, UCT-MSCs are immune privileged, which means that they are more likely to be accepted by the body’s immune system, so patients do not experience complications from rejection.

One of the most important factors that leads to cardiac disease is the general loss of a significant number of cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocytes have a very limited ability to regenerate damaged tissues, and they have a very limited intrinsic capacity. Cardiomyocytes are critical for ensuring the heart chambers contract effectively and provide efficient blood flow through the body, so damage to these parts of the heart can be critical. Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells can play a critical role in cardiac regenerative medicine due to their exceptional ability to differentiate effectively into cardiomyocytes.

This important capability can help to repair the heart when it lacks the ability to do so unaided. Previous studies conducted concluded that umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells were effective in improving the left ventricular function and quality of life for patients who suffer from chronic stable heart failure after they received transplantation of the stem cells. Improvements were also noted in the Na channel and the K+ channel of some of the test subjects.

Studies found that the use of these mesenchymal stem cells greatly improved cardiac function, especially when compared to the mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow.

In addition, there is also evidence that UCT-MSCs can improve cardiac function in animal models of cardiovascular disease. One study, in particular, found that the use of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells promoted the creation of gap junctions within the native ventricular myocytes. This positively demonstrated that the transplantation of UTC-MSCs effectively promoted the regrowth of myocytes within the mouse subjects without any adverse impacts. There are several studies that are currently ongoing to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness they have for helping with cardiac heart disease and various other diseases and illnesses in humans. Currently, UCT-MSCs offer a promising approach to preventing or treating cardiovascular disease and providing relief for patients.

Considering stem cell therapy? Let Cellebration Wellness provide the expert guidance you need—contact us today at 1.800.601.8290 to learn more!