RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells, because of convenient acquisition, will not bring pain and adverse effects to the fetus and their parturient. The success rate of culture is high. It has good application prospects in the treatment of myocardial infarction. OBJECTIVE: To review the new progress of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells transplantation in the treatment of myocardial infarction. METHODS: A computer-based online search of PubMed and Wanfang databases was performed to retrieve the related articles published from 1991 to 2017. We reviewed the initial data and the quotations from each document. Finally, we included randomized controlled animal experiments or clinical studies concerning human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of myocardial infarction. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells will become a new alternative source of cells in the treatment of myocardial infarction, with extremely broad prospects. However, there is no mature conclusion about the convenient route, optimal number of transplanted cells, optimal timing, differentiation, homing and evaluation after transplantation, which limits the clinical application of these cells.