Bone Marrow Rejuvenation Accelerates Re-Endothelialization and Attenuates Intimal Hyperplasia After Vascular Injury in Aging Mice

Background: Aging-associated functional impairment of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) contributes to delayed re-endothelialization after vascular injury and exaggerated intimal hyperplasia (IH). This study tested if bone marrow (BM) rejuvenation accelerates post-injury re-endothelialization in aging mice. Methods and Results: Using BM transplantation (BMTGfp→Wild), youngGfp to youngWild (YTY), oldGfp to oldWild (OTO), youngGfp to oldWild (YTO), and oldGfp to youngWild (OTY) groups were created. After vascular injury, IH was significantly greater in the old group than the young group (P