Stem cells have the potential to differentiate into cardiovascular cell lineages and to stimulate tissue regeneration in a paracrine/autocrine manner; thus, they have been extensively studied as candidate cell sources for cardiovascular regeneration. Several preclinical and clinical studies addressing the therapeutic potential of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) in cardiovascular diseases have been performed. For instance, autologous EPC transplantation and EPC mobilization through pharmacological agents contributed to vascular repair and neovascularization in different animal models of limb ischemia and myocardial infarction. Also, CPC administration and in situ stimulation of resident CPCs have been shown to improve myocardial survival and function in experimental models of ischemic heart disease. However, clinical studies using EPC- and CPC-based therapeutic approaches have produced mixed results. In this regard, intracoronary, intra-myocardial or intramuscular injection of either bone marrow-derived or peripheral blood progenitor cells has improved pathological features of tissue ischemia in humans, despite modest or no clinical benefit has been observed in most cases. Also, the intriguing scientific background surrounding the potential clinical applications of EPC capture stenting is still waiting for a confirmatory proof. Moreover, clinical findings on the efficacy of CPC-based cell therapy in heart diseases are still very preliminary and based on small-size studies.

Despite promising evidence, widespread clinical application of both EPCs and CPCs remains delayed due to several unresolved issues. The present review provides a summary of the different applications of EPCs and CPCs for cardiovascular cell therapy and underlies their advantages and limitations.

干细胞具有分化为心血管细胞谱系并以旁分泌/自分泌方式刺激组织再生的潜能。因此，已经将它们作为心血管再生的候选细胞来源进行了广泛的研究。已经进行了一些针对内皮祖细胞（EPC）和心脏祖细胞（CPC）在心血管疾病中的治疗潜力的临床前和临床研究。例如，在肢体缺血和心肌梗死的不同动物模型中，自体EPC移植和通过药理学动员EPC促进了血管修复和新血管形成。此外，CPC管理和现场在缺血性心脏病的实验模型中，刺激常驻CPC可以改善心肌存活和功能。但是，使用基于EPC和CPC的治疗方法进行的临床研究产生了不同的结果。就这一点而言，尽管在大多数情况下未观察到临床益处，但冠状动脉内，心肌内或肌肉内注射骨髓源性或外周血祖细胞已改善了人类组织缺血的病理学特征。同样，围绕EPC捕获支架置入潜在临床应用的有趣科学背景仍在等待证实性的证明。此外，基于CPC的细胞疗法在心脏病中的疗效的临床发现仍非常初步，并基于小型研究。

尽管有可喜的证据，但由于几个未解决的问题，EPC和CPC的广泛临床应用仍被延迟。本综述总结了EPC和CPC在心血管细胞治疗中的不同应用，并为其优点和局限性奠定了基础。