Selective cell dissemination into the heart by retrograde intracoronary infusion in the rat.

Cell transplantation through the intracoronary route has theoretical advantages over direct intramuscular injection in global cell dissemination into the myocardium with less injury. The authors have established a novel experimental model of retrograde intracoronary infusion in the rat by which the feasibility of this infusion for cell transplantation and the dynamics of myoblasts grafted by this route were investigated. After retrograde intracoronary implantation of beta-galactosidase-expressing myoblasts, myoblasts were observed to disseminate to all layers of only the left ventricular free wall, with little myocardial damage, and to differentiate into multinuclear myotubes by day 28. Beta-galactosidase enzyme activity estimated that 31.4% of initially grafted myoblasts existed within the heart at 10 min after implantation. The number slightly increased by day 3, increased to 117.3% at day 7, and reached a plateau of 132.1% at day 14. These data suggest the utility of retrograde intracoronary infusion for selective cell dissemination into the myocardium.