Does the Functional Efficacy of Skeletal Myoblast Transplantation Extend to Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy

Background— The benefits of skeletal myoblast (SM) transplantation on infarcted myocardium have been investigated extensively; however, little is known about its effects in nonischemic cardiomyopathy models. To address this issue, we tested SM transplantation in CHF147 Syrian hamsters, a strain characterized by a δ-sarcoglycan deficiency that phenotypically features the human setting of primary dilated cardiomyopathy. Methods and Results— Cell culture techniques were used to prepare ≈5×106 muscle cells from autologous tibialis anterior muscle, of which 50% were SMs (desmin staining). The cells were injected in 6 sites across the left ventricular wall (n=14). Control animals (n=12) received equivalent volumes of culture medium. Left ventricular systolic function was assessed in a blinded fashion from 2D echocardiographic left ventricular fractional area change, before transplantation, and 4 weeks later. Explanted hearts were processed for the detection of myotubes and quantification of fibrosis. Baseline f...