title: Umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells ameliorate graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation through multiple immunoregulations.
abstract: Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are increasingly used to treat graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), their immune regulatory mechanism in the process is elusive. The present study aimed to investigate the curative effect of third-party umbilical cord blood-derived human MSCs (UCB-hMSCs) on GVHD patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and their immune regulatory mechanism. Twenty-four refractory GVHD patients after allo-HSCT were treated with UCB-hMSCs. Immune cells including T lymphocyte subsets, NK cells, Treg cells and dendritic cells (DCs) and cytokines including interleukin-17 (IL-17) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were monitored before and after MSCs transfusion. The results showed that the symptoms of GVHD were alleviated significantly without increased relapse of primary disease and transplant-related complications after MSCs transfusion. The number of CD3(+), CD3(+)CD4(+) and CD3(+)CD8(+) cells decreased significantly, and that of NK cells remained unchanged, whereas the number of CD4(+) and CD8(+) Tregs increased and reached a peak at 4 weeks; the number of mature DCs, and the levels of TNF-α and IL-17 decreased and reached a trough at 2 weeks. It was concluded that MSCs ameliorate GVHD and spare GVL effect via immunoregulations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Ling
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Yun
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Di-Min
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Xia-Xia
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-Dong
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China. xlh64@medmail.com.cn.
authors.forename: Ling-Hui
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China. meihongcncn@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D036101:Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D056747:Immunomodulation; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000378:metabolism; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines