title: Endometrial regenerative cells as a novel cell therapy attenuate experimental colitis in mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endometrial regenerative cells (ERCs) are mesenchymal-like stem cells that can be non-invasively obtained from menstrual blood and are easily grown /generated at a large scale without tumorigenesis. We previously reported that ERCs exhibit unique immunoregulatory properties in vitro, however their immunosuppressive potential in protecting the colon from colitis has not been investigated. The present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of ERCs in mediating immunomodulatory functions against colitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Colitis was induced by 4% dextran-sulfate-sodium (DSS, in drinking water) in BALB/c mice for 7 days. ERCs were cultured from healthy female menstrual blood, and injected (1 million/mouse/day, i.v.) into mice on days 2, 5, and 8 following colitis induction. Colonic and splenic tissues were collected on day 14 post-DSS-induction. Clinical signs, disease activity index (DAI), pathological and immunohistological changes, cytokine profiles and cell populations were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DSS-induced mice in untreated group developed severe colitis, characterized by body-weight loss, bloody stool, diarrhea, mucosal ulceration and colon shortening, as well as pathological changes of intra-colon cell infiltrations of neutrophils and Mac-1 positive cells. Notably, ERCs attenuated colitis with significantly reduced DAI, decreased levels of intra-colon IL-2 and TNF-α, but increased expressions of IL-4 and IL-10. Compared with those of untreated colitis mice, splenic dendritic cells isolated from ERC-treated mice exhibited significantly decreased MHC-II expression. ERC-treated mice also demonstrated much less CD3(+)CD25(+) active T cell and CD3(+)CD8(+) T cell population and significantly higher level of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) Treg cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated novel anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of ERCs in attenuating colitis in mice, and suggested that the unique features of ERCs make them a promising therapeutic tool for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. ychlv@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yongcheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Tianjin General Surgery Institute, Tianjin, China. 37duchuan@sina.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoxi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. zhbai1@163.com.
authors.forename: Bai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tianjin General Surgery Institute, Tianjin, China. 13672163995@126.com.
authors.forename: Guangying
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Tianjin General Surgery Institute, Tianjin, China. xgllachel@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongyue
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urologic Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. caigan.du@ubc.ca.|Immunity and Infection Research Centre, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada. caigan.du@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Caigan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. hanhongqiu@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongqiu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China. hwangca272@hotmail.com.|Tianjin General Surgery Institute, Tianjin, China. hwangca272@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003092:Colitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D016264:Dextran Sulfate / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D016264:Dextran Sulfate