Methods for improving cell therapy and tissue regeneration in patients with cardiovascular and neurological diseases by means of shockwaves

Abstract

Improving cell therapy and tissue regeneration in a patient suffering from a cardiovascular or a neurological disease by treating a tissue of the patient with shock waves and / or applying to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of stem cells and / or progenitor cells. Such treatment increases expression of chemoattractants, pro-angiogenic factors, and pro-survival factors. The chemoattractants can be, for example, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) or stromal cell derived factor 1 (SDF-1). For example, the treated tissue can be located in the patient's heart or in a skeletal muscle of the patient, and the shock waves can be extracorporeal shock waves (ESW) or intracorporeal shock waves. The cardiovascular disease can have an ischemic or non-ischemic etiology. For example, the cardiovascular disease can be a myocardial infarction, ischemic cardiomyopathy, or a dilatative cardiomyopathy. For example, the neurological disease can be a peripheral neuropathy or neuropathic pain.

Description

RELATED PATENT APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 636,204 filed Dec. 15, 2004 and entitled “Methods for Improving Cell Therapy and Tissue Regeneration in Patients with Cardiovascular and Neurological Diseases by Means of Shockwaves.” The subject matter of the above-identified priority application is hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to methods for improving cell therapy in a patient. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods for improving cell therapy in patient who is suffering from a cardiovascular or a neurological disease by using shock waves as a therapeutic tool for targeting the recruitment of stem cells and / or progenitor cells to a tissue of the patient. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Stem and progenitor cells derived from the bone marrow may play a role in ongoing endothelial repair (Kalka et al., ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017] The present invention provides, in part, a therapeutic tool improving the targeted recruitment of stem and progenitor cells in patients undergoing cell therapy.

[0019] The present inventors have recently shown that autologous stem and progenitor cells in patients with cardiovascular risk factors have a reduced ability to home and migrate to damaged tissue. Since the expression of chemoattractant factors in chronically injured tissue is markedly reduced as compared to acute injury, the overall recruitment of stem / progenitor cells in patients with cardiovascular risk factors is impaired. The invention involves the treatment of tissue that is targeted for therapy with stem and progenitor cells by means of shock waves to increase the expression of chemoattractants (i.e. factors mediating the attraction of circulating stem and progenitor cells, e.g. SDF-1α, VEGF, P1GF) and pro-angiogenic factors (i.e. factors stimulating pre-existing endothelial cells to form new vessels, e.g. HIF-1α, VEGF, P1GF) as well as pro-survival factors (i.e. factors inhibiting apoptosis / programmed cell death, e.g. HGF, IGF, VEGF). The increased expression of chemoattractant and pro-angiogenic factors will improve the recruitment of systemically infused stem and / or progenitor cells, and enhanced expression of pro-survival factors will improve the microenvironment for cells directly administered into the target tissue. The homing of stem and progenitor cells will be enhanced. Thereby, shock wave treatment of the targeted tissue will enhance the therapeutic effect of cell therapy.

[0020] By combining the application of extracorporeal shock waves (“ESW”) and the application of stem cells and / or progenitor cells, the regeneration of cardiovascular and neurological diseases may be improved. The combination of ESW and the application of stem cells and / or progenitor cells may be used to treat cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

Problems solved by technology

Since the expression of chemoattractant factors in chronically injured tissue is markedly reduced as compared to acute injury, the overall recruitment of stem / progenitor cells in patients with cardiovascular risk factors is impaired.

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