Therapeutic potential of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells in combination with silymarin against carbon tetrachloride induced liver cirrhosis in wistar rats

Background: self-renewal,active proliferation in vitro,abundant sources for isolation,and a high differentiation capacity,make mesenchymal stem cells to be potentially therapeutic for liver cirrhosis. aim and objectives: to evaluate the therapeutic potential of the combination of human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells (bm-msc) and silymarin in carbon tetrachloride (ccl4) induced liver cirrhosis in wistar rats. material and methods: this was an experimental study. liver cirrhosis was induced in adult female wistar rats using ccl4. sixty rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: group 1 (normal control group),group 2 (received only ccl4),group 3 (ccl4+low dose bm-mscs),group 4 (ccl4+high dose bm-mscs),group 5 (ccl4+ silymarin),group 6 (ccl4+bm-mscs+silymarin). on day 0 and at the end of 6th,12th,18th,24th and 30th day after treatment,blood samples were collected for liver enzyme estimations. after 30 days of treatment,the rats were sacrificed; livers were excised and used for antioxidant analysis and histopathological studies. results: liver enzyme analysis and histopathological studies indicated that combination of bm-mscs and silymarin was effective in treating liver cirrhosis. furthermore,oxidative stress was attenuated in the group which received combination treatment of bm-mscs and silymarin. conclusion: evidence of this study showed that combination treatment of bm- mscs and silymarin was beneficial and support the potential of using mscs transplantation as an effective treatment modality for liver cirrhosis. © journal of krishna institute of medical sciences university.