Growth factors: avenues for the treatment of myocardial infarction and potential delivery strategies

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Despite recent advances in clinical management, reoccurence of heart failure after AMI remains high, in part because of the limited capacity of cardiac tissue to repair after AMI-induced cell death. Growth factor-based therapy has emerged as an alternative AMI treatment strategy. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of growth factor cardioprotective and regenerative actions is important. This review focuses on the function of different growth factors at each stage of the cardiac repair process. Recent evidence for growth factor therapy in preclinical and clinical trials is included. Finally, different delivery strategies are reviewed with a view to providing workable strategies for clinical translation.Acute myocardial infarction is a serious, life-threatening disease. Current treatments for acute myocardial infarction are unsatisfactory, and new treatments are required. Growth factors are promising treatments for myocardial infarction. It is intriguing to understand how growth factors provide cardioprotective benefits. This article describes the various growth factors used to treat myocardial infarction and how they are delivered to the infarcted heart.