Background: Ischemic cardiomyopathies are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. Stem cell therapy using amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells have emerged as a promising cardiac regeneration modality. They have shown great immunological advantage when used in allogeneic or xenogeneic transplantation. The aim of the current study is to accumulate evidence from published preclinical studies on the application of amniotic membrane derived mesenchymal stem cells (AMSCs) in the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathies including myocardial ischemia and heart failure. The aim is to define if there is enough high-quality current evidence to support starting the use of these cells in clinical trials. Methods: PubMed, SCOPUS, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Science databases were searched without temporal and language restrictions. Data were extracted from selected studies. The primary outcomes were left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and LV fibrosis. The risk of bias (ROB) assessment was performed using SYRCLE\'s ROB tool. After qualitative synthesis, provided that data meets the criteria for quantitative analysis, a meta-analysis was performed using Stata software V12 to investigate the heterogeneity of the data and to get an overall estimate of the effect size of the treatment on each outcome. Results: On primary search, 438 citations were retrieved. After screening, three studies were selected for quantitative analysis of each of the outcomes LVEF and LV fibrosis. Their administration in acute and chronic MI alleviates heart failure and improves LVEF (SMD=3.56, 95% CI: 2.24-4.87, I-squared=83.1%, p=0.003) and reduces infarct size (SMD= -4.41, 95% CI: (-5.68)-(-3.14), I-squared=79.0%, p=0.009). These observations were achieved in the acute MI model, HF following ischemia due to coronary artery stenosis and coronary artery occlusion with the early restoration of the perfusion. Conclusion: Present low and medium quality evidence from preclinical studies confirm the efficacy of the AMSCs in the preclinical models of acute MI and HF following ischemia due to coronary artery stenosis and permanent/temporary coronary artery occlusion. High-quality preclinical studies are indicated to bridge the gaps in translation of the current findings of AMSCs research for the treatment of patients with acute and chronic myocardial ischemia and heart failure.

Heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, refers to various illnesses that affect heart structure and function. Specific abnormalities affecting cardiac muscle contractility and remodeling and common factors including oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis underlie the pathogenesis of heart diseases. Epidemiology studies have associated green tea consumption with lower morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, including heart and blood vessel dysfunction. Among the various compounds found in green tea, catechins are believed to play a significant role in producing benefits to cardiovascular health. Comprehensive literature reviews have been published to summarize the tea catechins\' antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptosis effects in various diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and metabolic diseases. However, recent studies on tea catechins, especially the most abundant (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG), revealed their capabilities in regulating cardiac muscle contraction by directly altering myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity on force development and Ca2+ ion handling in cardiomyocytes under both physiological and pathological conditions. In vitro and in vivo data also demonstrated that green tea extract or EGCG protected or rescued cardiac function, independent of their well-known effects against oxidative stress and inflammation. This mini-review will focus on the specific effects of tea catechins on heart muscle contractility at the molecular and cellular level, revisit their effects on oxidative stress and inflammation in various heart diseases, and discuss EGCG\'s potential as one of the lead compounds for new drug discovery for heart diseases.

Ischemic heart diseases are the major leading cause of death worldwide. Revascularization procedures dramatically reduced the overall risk for death related to acute coronary syndromes. Two kinds of myocardial revascularization can grossly be outlined: percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and surgical coronary artery bypass graft intervention (CABG). The net clinical benefit coming from these two kinds of procedures is still under debate.
We have traced the state-of-the-art background about myocardial revascularization procedures by comparing the most important trials dealing with the evaluation of percutaneous interventions versus a surgical approach to coronary artery diseases.
Both PCI and CABG have become effective treatments for revascularization of patients suffering from advanced CAD. The advance in technology and procedural techniques made PCI an attractive and, to some extent, more reliable procedure in the context of CAD. However, there are still patients that cannot undergo PCI and have to be rather directed towards CABG.
CABG still remains the best strategy for the treatment of multiple vessel CAD due to improved results in term of survival and freedom from reintervention. Anyway, a systematic, multidisciplinary approach to revascularization is the fundamental behaviour to be chased in order to effectively help the patients in overcoming its diseases. The creation of the \"heart team\" seems to be a good option for the correct treatment of patients suffering from stable and unstable CAD.

Ischemic heart diseases (IHDs) remain major public health problems with high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite significant advances, current therapeutic approaches are unable to rescue the extensive and irreversible loss of cardiomyocytes caused by severe ischemia. Over the past 16 years, stem cell-based therapy has been recognized as an innovative strategy for cardiac repair/regeneration and functional recovery after IHDs. Although substantial preclinical animal studies using a variety of stem/progenitor cells have shown promising results, there is a tremendous degree of skepticism in the clinical community as many stem cell trials do not confer any beneficial effects. How to accelerate stem cell-based therapy toward successful clinical application attracts considerate attention. However, many important issues need to be fully addressed. In this Review, we have described and compared the effects of different types of stem cells with their dose, delivery routes, and timing that have been routinely tested in recent preclinical and clinical findings. We have also discussed the potential mechanisms of action of stem cells, and explored the role and underlying regulatory components of stem cell-derived secretomes/exosomes in myocardial repair. Furthermore, we have critically reviewed the different strategies for optimizing both donor stem cells and the target cardiac microenvironments to enhance the engraftment and efficacy of stem cells, highlighting their clinical translatability and potential limitation. Stem Cells 2018;36:482-500.