Anti-inflammatory effects of adult stem cells in sustained lung injury: a comparative study

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 1;8(8):e69299. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069299. Print 2013.

Abstract

Lung diseases are a major cause of global morbidity and mortality that are treated with limited efficacy. Recently stem cell therapies have been shown to effectively treat animal models of lung disease. However, there are limitations to the translation of these cell therapies to clinical disease. Studies have shown that delayed treatment of animal models does not improve outcomes and that the models do not reflect the repeated injury that is present in most lung diseases. We tested the efficacy of amnion mesenchymal stem cells (AM-MSC), bone marrow MSC (BM-MSC) and human amniotic epithelial cells (hAEC) in C57BL/6 mice using a repeat dose bleomycin-induced model of lung injury that better reflects the repeat injury seen in lung diseases. The dual bleomycin dose led to significantly higher levels of inflammation and fibrosis in the mouse lung compared to a single bleomycin dose. Intravenously infused stem cells were present in the lung in similar numbers at days 7 and 21 post cell injection. In addition, stem cell injection resulted in a significant decrease in inflammatory cell infiltrate and a reduction in IL-1 (AM-MSC), IL-6 (AM-MSC, BM-MSC, hAEC) and TNF-α (AM-MSC). The only trophic factor tested that increased following stem cell injection was IL-1RA (AM-MSC). IL-1RA levels may be modulated by GM-CSF produced by AM-MSC. Furthermore, only AM-MSC reduced collagen deposition and increased MMP-9 activity in the lung although there was a reduction of the pro-fibrogenic cytokine TGF-β following BM-MSC, AM-MSC and hAEC treatment. Therefore, AM-MSC may be more effective in reducing injury following delayed injection in the setting of repeated lung injury.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult Stem Cells / cytology*
  • Adult Stem Cells / transplantation
  • Amnion / cytology
  • Animals
  • Bleomycin / pharmacology
  • Bone Marrow Cells / cytology
  • Collagen / metabolism
  • Epithelial Cells / cytology
  • Epithelial Cells / transplantation
  • Female
  • Fibrosis
  • Humans
  • Inflammation / metabolism
  • Inflammation / therapy
  • Lung Injury / chemically induced
  • Lung Injury / metabolism
  • Lung Injury / therapy*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Pregnancy
  • Receptors, Interleukin-1 / antagonists & inhibitors

Substances

  • Receptors, Interleukin-1
  • Bleomycin
  • Collagen

Grants and funding

This work was funded by a Monash University Collaborative Grant to YM and UM. UM is supported by Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant #606473; JC by #436634; PM by #509140; CS by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, and OP by the National Ministry of Health and Education and Fondazione Cariplo, Italy. VV and UM supported by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.