Cardiovascular Ischemia: Advancement and Potential Use of Collagen-Based Therapeutic Strategies.

Cardiac ischemia causes a shortage of blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle (i.e., myocardial infarction, MI), causing cell damage/death that initiates a cascade of healing processes. Every year, more than one million people in the United States die as a result of MI. After MI, approximately 40% of patients develop maladaptive myocardial remodeling that associates with decreasing cardiac function levels. Collagen treatment, particularly the use of collagen-based biomaterials as well as collagen supplementation, has shown promise in treating cardiac ischemia by supporting processes involved in blood pressure regulation, arterial health, and cholesterol management, mechanical support, increasing stem cell retention, and improving bioactive chemical delivery for myocardial repair and regeneration. In this review, we evaluate collagen treatment in myocardial ischemia based on existing studies and propose a missing link for future research.