title: The modulation of Th2 immune pathway in the immunosuppressive effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in a murine asthmatic model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease that has a high prevalence nowadays, and seeking the means of relieving asthmatic symptoms is now an issue with increased importance. While mesenchymal stem cells have been demonstrated to display immunomodulatory effects, the effect of fetus-type mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on asthmatic symptoms in vivo have not been reported to date.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female BALB/c mice at 8 weeks of age were sensitized by ovalbumin, and MSCs derived from Wharton's jelly of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) were injected into the asthmatic mice. Airway hyper-responsiveness, lung eosinophil infiltration, cytokine level in splenocyte cultures and serum immunoglobulin level were measured. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine cytokine and immunoglobulin levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This current study demonstrated that hUCMSCs attenuated both lung lymphocyte and eosinophil infiltration, and significantly decreased the concentration of Th2 cytokines interleukin-5 in splenocyte cultures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells have the advantage of being easily harvested non-invasively and are capable of rapid proliferation, therefore an ideal material for stem cell-based immune therapies. The current study showed that fetal-type MSCs were able to suppress asthmatic symptoms efficiently, and its immunomodulatory effect resulted primarily from suppressing the Th2 pathway in the animal model. This study suggested that hUCMSCs could be an ideal candidate for cell-based therapies of asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Taoyuan General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Hsin Sheng Junior College of Medical Care and Management, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Kan
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Asthma and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, No. 5, Fu-Hsin Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ting-Chun
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yung-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ya-Shan
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology, Taoyuan General Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Huei-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Asthma and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, No. 5, Fu-Hsin Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Ling
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital and School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University and Hospitals, Taichung, Taiwan. d5284@mail.cmuh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Kang-Hsi
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy, Asthma and Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, No. 5, Fu-Hsin Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan, Taiwan. long@adm.cgmh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Jing-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens; D000818:Animals; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010047:Ovalbumin; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014470:Umbilical Cord / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D016207:Cytokines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D010047:Ovalbumin
keywords: Allergic symptoms; Asthma; MSC; Mesenchymal stem cell; Mice; Murine; Umbilical cord; Wharton’s jelly