RESUMO
BACKGROUND AIMS: The aim was to investigate the therapeutic effect of granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration following implantation of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM MNC) for patients with lower limb ischemia. METHODS: The design was a randomized controlled trial. Fifteen patients with severe chronic limb ischemia were treated with autologous BM MNC [without G-CSF (MNC-G-CSF) or combined with G-CSF administration for 5 days following transplantation (MNC+G-CSF)]. RESULTS: All clinical parameters, including ankle brachial index, visual analog scale and pain-free walking distance, showed a mean improvement from baseline, which was measured at 4 and 24 weeks after transplantation in both groups. However, in three (20%) patients, the clinical course did not improve and limb salvage was not achieved. No significant difference was observed among the patients treated in the MNC-G-CSF and MNC+G-CSF groups. No severe adverse reactions were reported during the study period. No relationship was observed between both the numbers of viable MNC or CD34+ cells and the clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Autologous transplantation of BM MNC into ischemic lower limbs is safe, feasible and efficient for patients with severe peripheral artery disease. However, the administration of G-CSF following cell transplantation does not improve the effect of BM MNC implantation and therefore would not have any beneficial value in clinical applications of such cases.