Heart failure is a leading cause of death in patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction. Despite the timely use of modern reperfusion therapies such as thrombolysis, surgical revascularization and balloon angioplasty, they are sometimes unable to prevent the development of significant areas of myocardial damage and subsequent heart failure. Research efforts have focused on developing strategies to improve the functional status of myocardial injury areas. Consequently, the restoration of cardiac function using cell therapy is an exciting prospect. This review describes the characteristics of various cell types relevant to cellular cardiomyoplasty and presents findings from experimental and clinical studies investigating cell therapy for coronary heart disease. Cell delivery methods, optimal dosage and potential treatment mechanisms are discussed.

Maternal obesity increases the risk of obesity in offspring, and obesity is accompanied by an increase in blood leptin levels. The “yellow” mutation at the mouse agouti locus ( A y ) increases blood leptin levels in C57BL preobese pregnant mice without affecting other metabolic characteristics. We investigated the influence of the A y mutation or leptin injection at the end of pregnancy in C57BL mice on metabolic phenotypes and the susceptibility to diet-induced obesity (DIO) in offspring. In both C57BL- A y and leptin-treated mice, the maternal effect was more pronounced in male offspring. Compared with males born to control mothers, males born to A y mothers displayed equal food intake (FI) but decreased body weight (BW) gain after weaning, equal glucose tolerance, and enhanced FI-to-BW ratios on the standard diet but the same FI and BW on the high-fat diet. Males born to A y mothers were less responsive to the anorectic effect of exogenous leptin and less resistant to fasting (were not hyperphagic and gained less weight during refeeding after food deprivation) compared with males born to control mothers. However, all progeny displayed equal hypothalamic expression of Agouti gene-related protein (AgRP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and equal plasma leptin and glucose levels after food deprivation. Leptin injections in C57BL mice on day 17 of pregnancy decreased BW in both male and female offspring but inhibited FI and DIO only in male offspring. Our results show that hyperleptinemia during pregnancy has sex-specific long-term effects on energy balance regulation in progeny and does not predispose offspring to developing obesity.

Using gas-phase deposition (Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD)) methods, modern implant samples (Ti alloy and CFR-PEEK polymer, 30% carbon fiber) were functionalized with film heterostructures consisting of an iridium or gold sublayer, on the surface of which an antibacterial component (silver) was deposited: Ag/Ir(Au)/Ti(CFR-PEEK). The biocidal effect of the heterostructures was investigated, the effect of the surface relief of the carrier and the metal sublayer on antibacterial activity was established, and the dynamics of silver dissolution was evaluated. It has been shown that the activity of Ag/Ir heterostructures was due to high Ag⁺ release rates, which led to rapid (2–4 h) inhibition of P. aeruginosa growth. In the case of Ag/Au type heterostructures, the inhibition of the growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus occurred more slowly (from 6 h), and the antibacterial activity appeared to be due to the contribution of two agents (Ag⁺ and Au⁺ ions). It was found, according to the in vitro cytotoxicity study, that heterostructures did not exhibit toxic effects (cell viability > 95–98%). An in vivo biocompatibility assessment based on the results of a morphohistological study showed that after implantation for a period of 30 days, the samples were characterized by the presence of a thin fibrous capsule without volume thickening and signs of inflammation.

This work is aimed at developing the modification of the surface of medical implants with film materials based on noble metals in order to improve their biological characteristics. Gas-phase transportation methods were proposed to obtain such materials. To determine the effect of the material of the bottom layer of heterometallic structures, Ir, Pt, and PtIr coatings with a thickness of 1.4–1.5 μm were deposited by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on Ti₆Al₄V alloy discs. Two types of antibacterial components, namely, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and discontinuous Ag coatings, were deposited on the surface of these coatings. AuNPs (11–14 nm) were deposited by a pulsed MOCVD method, while Ag films (35–40 nm in thickness) were obtained by physical vapor deposition (PVD). The cytotoxic (24 h and 48 h, toward peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)) and antibacterial (24 h) properties of monophase (Ag, Ir, Pt, and PtIr) and heterophase (Ag/Pt, Ag/Ir, Ag/PtIr, Au/Pt, Au/Ir, and Au/PtIr) film materials deposited on Ti-alloy samples were studied in vitro and compared with those of uncoated Ti-alloy samples. Studies of the cytokine production by PBMCs in response to incubation of the samples for 24 and 48 h and histological studies at 1 and 3 months after subcutaneous implantation in rats were also performed. Despite the comparable thickness of the fibrous capsule after 3 months, a faster completion of the active phase of encapsulation was observed for the coated implants compared to the Ti alloy analogs. For the Ag-containing samples, growth inhibition of S. epidermidis, S. aureus, Str. pyogenes, P. aeruginosa, and Ent. faecium was observed.

Several experimental studies have recently demonstrated that temporary autonomic block using botulinum toxin (BoNT/A1) might be a novel option for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. However, the assessment of antiarrhythmic properties of BoNT has so far been limited, relying exclusively on vagal stimulation and rapid atrial pacing models. The present study examined the antiarrhythmic effect of specially formulated BoNT/A1-chitosan nanoparticles (BTN) in calcium chloride-, barium chloride- and electrically induced arrhythmia rat models. BTN enhanced the effect of BoNT/A1. Subepicardial injection of BTN resulted in a significant antiarrhythmic effect in investigated rat models. BTN formulation antagonizes arrhythmia induced by the activation of Ca, K and Na channels.