Recent reports demonstrated the presence of primitive endogenous stem cells circulating within adult cat, dog, sheep, goat, pig, cow, and horse peripheral blood. The current study was undertaken to determine whether similar primitive stem cells could be isolated from the peripheral blood of adult humans. Adult humans had their blood withdrawn following the guidelines of

Stout et al. [1] reported the presence of primitive endogenous stem cells circulating within adult porcine peripheral blood. The current study was undertaken to determine whether similar primitive stem cells could be isolated from the peripheral blood of adult felines, canines, ovines, caprines, bovines, and equines. Adult cats, dogs, sheep, goats, cows and horses had their blood withdrawn following the guidelines of Fort Valley State University's IACUC. The blood was obtained by venipuncture and processed to obtain primitive stem cells. Cells were counted using 0.4% Trypan blue inclusion/exclusion analysis and stained with carcinoembryonic antigen-cell adhesion molecule-1 (CEA-CAM-1) antibody. Totipotent stem cells are both trypan blue and CEA-CAM-1 positive and < 2.0 microns in size; transitional-totipotent/pluripotent stem cells are both trypan blue and CEA-CAM-1 positive & negative and >2.0 to <6.0 microns in size; and pluripotent stem cells are both trypan blue and CEA-CAM-1 negative and 6-8 microns in size. The results show that TSCs, Tr-TSC/PSCs, and PSCs are circulating within the peripheral blood of all species examined. Studies are ongoing to address their functional significance during maintenance and healing.

This study was designed to determine if trauma causes the release of adult-derived blastomere-like stem cells (BLSCs) from skeletal muscle into the circulating blood of adult pigs. Experimental procedures followed the guidelines of Fort Valley State University's Institutional Animal Care and Utilization Committee. Pigs were traumatized by splenectomy followed by pancreatectomy. Blood samples and skeletal muscle biopsies were taken before and after trauma. Adult-derived BLSCs were isolated from skeletal muscle and blood samples following established procedures. Nontraumatized skeletal muscle contained approximately 277 million BLSCs per gram of muscle. After trauma, skeletal muscle contained approximately 2 million BLSCs per gram of muscle. Blood taken before trauma contained approximately 22 million BLSCs per milliliter, whereas approximately 512 million BLSCs per milliliter were present within the blood after trauma. Blood values were statistically significant with a P < 0.05. This report is the first demonstration that trauma causes the release of adult-derived BLSCs from skeletal muscle into blood. Further studies are required to elucidate the roles that adult-derived BLSCs play in the response to injury and in the healing process. Surgeons must take a role in this evolving field.

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Cardiovascular disease, especially ischemic heart disease resulting from coronary artery disease (CAD), is one of the major causes of death and disability in the United States. Even though the dead myocardial cells can be replaced by scar tissue in the healing process, the resulting myocardium cannot function as well as the preinfarcted myocardium, because scar tissues cannot contract. This "normal" healing process results in decreased cardiac output, which can lead to heart failure. Moreover, the scar tissue has abnormal electrical properties, which can lead to sometimes fatal arrhythmias. Previous studies demonstrated that when Lac-Z-labeled healing cells were infused into two animal models of myocardial infarction, that these cells were found to be located within the myocardium, the cardiac skeleton, and the vasculature undergoing repair. These results suggested that healing cells have the potential to repair damaged hearts. The current series of studies were undertaken to determine whether healing cells customarily reside in normal non-injured hearts of small and large animals, and whether autologous healing cells could be infused safely into a post-myocardial infarction patient. Adult rats were euthanized following the guidelines of Mercer University's IACUC. Adult pigs were euthanized following the guidelines of Fort Valley State University's IACUC. The human study was performed under the guidance of the Medical Center of Central Georgia's IRB. Animal hearts were harvested, fixed, cryosectioned, and stained with three antibodies: carcinoembryonic antigen-cell adhesion molecule-1 (CEA-CAM-1) for totipotent stem cells, stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA-4) for pluripotent stem cells, and smooth muscle alpha-actin (IA4) for smooth muscle in the wall of the accompanying vasculature, thus serving as the positive procedural control. Cells positive for both CEA-CAM-1 and SSEA-4 were found to be located in adult rat and porcine hearts. Infusion of autologous healing cells into a post-myocardial infarcted patient resulted in an increase in their cardiac output after two successive healing cell infusions. Current IRB-approved studies are underway to assess the safety and efficacy of infused healing cells into individuals with cardiovascular disease.