Abstract 253: The Presence of Coronary Artery Disease Influences Number and Function of Stem Cells in the Bone Marrow

Purpose: Despite the observed therapeutic benefits of autologous bone marrow (BM)-derived stem cell transplantation in patients with ischemic heart disease, the efficacy of this approach could be hampered by BM dysfunction. We investigated whether BM cellularity and function is affected by coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods & Results: BM samples were obtained peri-operatively from 26 CAD patients, undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (LVEF 54±16%), and 6 controls, undergoing mitral valve surgery (LVEF 50±12%; age 59±10yrs). CAD patients were stratified according to their Syntax score (mild ≤15, age 61±10yrs; and moderate CAD >15, age 63±8yrs; stratification based on median score), which is used to assess complexity of coronary lesions. In vitro functional analysis of isolated BM-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNC) revealed a significant impairment of migratory capacity towards SDF-1α and VEGF in patients with moderate CAD (25.71±7.3%) compared to controls (33.82±8.3%; p=0.042) and patients with mi...