Stem cell therapy in pulmonary hypertension: current practice and future opportunities

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive disease characterised by elevated pulmonary arterial pressure and right-sided heart failure. While conventional drug therapies, including prostacyclin analogues, endothelin receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, have been shown to improve the haemodynamic abnormalities of patients with PH, the 5-year mortality rate remains high. Thus, novel therapies are urgently required to prolong the survival of patients with PH. Stem cell therapies, including mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, have shown therapeutic potential for the treatment of PH and clinical trials on stem cell therapies for PH are ongoing. This review aims to present the latest preclinical achievements of stem cell therapies, focusing on the therapeutic effects of clinical trials and discussing the challenges and future perspectives of large-scale applications.