摘要
Ischemic heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy followed by heart failure are a worldwide problem,which seriously challenge clinical outcomes and quality of life of patients. Heart failure is one of the major causes of morbility and mortality. The human heart cannot regenerate significantly because adult cardiomyocytes are terminally differentiated and cannot replicate after injury. The loss of cardiomyocytes accounts for a decrease in myocardial function, which leads to heart failure. Conservative treatment for cardiac conditions has focused on the reduction of workload, and protection from risk factors and has little therapeutic effect on patients in end-stage heart failure. Heart transplantation represents a life-saving and life-extending treatment modality for end-stage heart failure. In spite of advances in surgical techniques, the shortage of availability of donor organs has limited this treatment modality and has prompted researchers to develop alternative approaches. Cardiomyocyte regeneration is a prospective treatment modality, of which, in vitro engineering of myocardial tissue has had promising outcomes that should help cope with failing hearts in the future. Over the past years, much progress has been made to replace infarcted, non-functioning myocardium with newly formed tissue by means of cell-grafting techniques. Our country has made substantial progress in this field and promises a bright future for clinical management of heart failure.
Ischemic heart disease and dilated cardiomyopathy followed by heart failure are a worldwide problem,which seriously challenge clinical outcomes and quality of life of patients. Heart failure is one of the major causes of morbility and mortality. The human heart cannot regenerate significantly because adult cardiomyocytes are terminally differentiated and cannot replicate after injury. The loss of cardiomyocytes accounts for a decrease in myocardial function, which leads to heart failure. Conservative treatment for cardiac conditions has focused on the reduction of workload, and protection from risk factors and has little therapeutic effect on patients in end-stage heart failure. Heart transplantation represents a life-saving and life-extending treatment modality for end-stage heart failure. In spite of advances in surgical techniques, the shortage of availability of donor organs has limited this treatment modality and has prompted researchers to develop alternative approaches. Cardiomyocyte regeneration is a prospective treatment modality, of which, in vitro engineering of myocardial tissue has had promising outcomes that should help cope with failing hearts in the future. Over the past years, much progress has been made to replace infarcted, non-functioning myocardium with newly formed tissue by means of cell-grafting techniques. Our country has made substantial progress in this field and promises a bright future for clinical management of heart failure.
