Cardiac accumulation of bone marrow mononuclear progenitor cells after intracoronary or intravenous injection in pigs subjected to acute myocardial infarction with subsequent reperfusion

Conclusion Autologous mononuclear and CD31 + cells from bone marrow accumulated in the infarcted myocardium when injected intracoronarily or intravenously after established reperfusion, and the accumulation of cells was significantly greater after intracoronary injection than after intravenous injection. Accumulation of PKH + cells did not appear in the normal myocardium or in the nonreperfused infarcted myocardium. PKH + cells were detected in spleen, lung, and bone marrow but to a lesser degree than in the infarcted myocardium.