Abstract
Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) leads to progressive left ventricular (LV) remodeling, significantly affecting patient outcomes and prognosis.
Objective: This paper provides a critical overview of the current standard of care and emerging pharmacological and regenerative therapies for prevention of cardiac remodeling post-MI.
Methods: We examined the effectiveness of conventional neurohormonal blockers, such as ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta-blockers, and aldosterone antagonists, and their limitations, together with the evidence for new drug classes (ARNIs, SGLT2 inhibitors) and cell-based approaches. In particular, we focused on the progress in stem cell treatments, including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), as well as the influence of bioengineering and biomaterials on the enhancement of drug delivery and retention.
Results: The current standard treatments reliably interact with the neurohormonal system but have barriers such as the incomplete blockade effect and side effects that limit their dosages. New drugs like ARNIs and SGLT2 inhibitors demonstrate superior outcomes due to their multimodal pathway targeting and improved heart metabolic function. In the field of regenerative medicine, there is a shift from the previously inconsistent approach of whole-cell implantation towards the widely accepted mechanism of using the paracrine effect of MSCs along with the application of highly advanced bioengineering techniques (cardiac patches, hydrogels, synthetic stem cells) to improve cell survival and targeted drug delivery, thus overcoming the problems of immunogenicity and poor engraftment. Additionally, the use of TGF-β inhibitors as one of the anti-fibrotic agents shows potential for the precision modulation of the extracellular matrix through research into anti-inflammatory and specific anti-fibrotic agents.
Conclusion: The future of attenuating adverse cardiac remodeling lies in a multimodal therapy paradigm. This therapeutic paradigm utilizes not only the optimized neurohormonal blockade together with the targeted anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and advanced engineered regenerative interventions, but also the complete and long-lasting preservation of LV structure and function after MI.
Keywords
Cardiac remodeling, Cardiovascular risk reduction, Cardiovascular therapeutics, Novel therapies