Association between Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cell Characterizations and the Administration of Antiarrhythmic Drugs in Patients with Severe Left Ventricular Dysfunction after Off-Pump Bypass Surgery

Background and Aim: Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and occurs in up to 30% of patients with heart failure. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can regenerate and improve cardiac function after tissue damage and are used in clinical trials. Due to the possible ability of MSCs to improve cardiac functions, in this work, we aimed to examine the probable association of the MSCs proliferation rate with the requirement for antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction after off-pump CABG. Methods: Bone marrow samples were obtained from the sternum of 30 patients who underwent off-pump CABG at Afshar Hospital and Seyed Al-Shohada Hospital. For calculating MSCs doubling time, the cells were counted after 4, 7, and 14 days using trypan-blue color and a hemocytometer. Results: There were no significant differences between MSCs' doubling time and the patient's age and gender. The percentage of women patients who require antiarrhythmic medicine was significantly higher than men after surgery. Also, we demonstrated that the BMSCs doubling time in female patients who received antiarrhythmic drugs was less than that of male patients who received antiarrhythmic drugs, but these differences were not significant. Conclusion: Based on this research, we concluded that women patients who received antiarrhythmic drugs were significantly higher than men, but there was no apparent relevancy between MSCs doubling time and antiarrhythmic drugs requirement in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction.