Autologous Bone Marrow-derived Mononuclear Cells for Therapeutic Arteriogenesis in Patients With Limb Ischemia (ABC)

Although the safety and beneficial effects of intramuscular transplantation of bone marrow derived mononuclear cells procedure appear well documented, a number of critical question regarding application of BM-MNC for peripheral vascular disease remain to be answered. First, although the original study has been partially performed as semi-blinded study (patients with double sided claudication were recruited and blindly treated with BM-MNC in one leg and peripheral blood injections in the other leg), this approach does exclude a placebo effect. Second, although patients with mild diabetes were included in the protocol, the results for diabetic patients were not analyzed separately. Diabetic disease is characterized by monocyte and endothelial progenitor cell dysfunction and it is still unclear whether this approach is also effective in diabetic patients. Third, although six-month results are reported long-term efficacy has not been established yet.

To address these issues, the investigators now propose confirm and extend the findings from open studies in a randomized double-blind study in patients with severe claudication or critical leg ischemia and pay special attention to the influence of diabetic disease on the outcome of the study and to the possible pro-atherogenic/ pro-inflammatory effects of BM-MNC injections.