Published in:
Open Access 01-11-2012 | Research article
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Peripheral blood mono-nuclear cells implantation in patients with peripheral arterial disease: a pilot study for clinical and biochemical outcome of neoangiogenesis
Published in: BMC Surgery | Special Issue 1/2012
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Background
Substantial progresses in the management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD)
have been made in the past two decades. Progress in the understanding of the
endothelial-platelet interaction during health and disease state has resulted in
better antiplatelet drugs that can prevent platelet aggregation, activation and
thrombosis during angioplasty and stenting. A role in physiological and
pathological angiogenesis in adults has been recently shown in bone marrow–derived
circulating endothelial progenitors (BM-DCEPs) identified in the peripheral blood.
These findings have paved the way for the development of therapeutic
neovascularization techniques using endothelial progenitors.
Methods
This pilot study includes five patients, aged 60 to 75, with a history of
claudication and recruited from September 2010 to February 2011 at the A.O.U.
Federico II of Naples.
PBMNCs have been implanted three times in the limb with the worst ABI value in
all the patients included in the study.
The clinical follow up was performed during the subsequent 12 months from the
beginning of the treatment.
Results
In four patients there was a regression of ulcerative lesions.
One patient’s condition improved after the first implantation but later did
not respond to the further treatments.
All patients achieved a pain relief as judged by the numeric pain scale. Pain
relief remained satisfactory in three patients for one year. Pain gradually
returned to the pre-treatment level in two patients.
All patients referred an ameliorating in their quality of life expressed even
by an improvement in claudication free walking distance.
These improvements are reflected also by intra-arterial digital subtraction
angiography (IADSA) that shows an improvement of arterial vascularization.
Conclusions
The data from this study suggest an efficacy of BM-DCEPs implantation in terms
of improvement of the vascularization and quality of life in patients affected by
Peripheral Arterial Disease. Nevertheless a double-blind placebo-controlled study
is needed to confirm our findings.