Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells reduce systemic inflammation and attenuate LPS-induced acute lung injury in rats

Background: mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) possess potent immunomodulatory properties and simultaneously lack the ability to illicit immune responses. hence,mscs have emerged as a promising candidate for cellular therapeutics for inflammatory diseases. within the context of this study,we investigated whether human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (uc-mscs) could ameliorate lipopolysaccharide- (lps-) induced acute lung injury (ali) in a rat model. methods. ali was induced via injection of lps. rats were divided into three groups: (1) saline group(control),(2) lps group,and (3) msc + lps group. the rats were sacrificed at 6,24,and 48 hours after injection. serum,bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (balf),and lungs were collected for cytokine concentration measurements,assessment of lung injury,and histology. results: uc-mscs increased survival rate and suppressed lps-induced increase of serum concentrations of pro-inflammatory mediators tnf-α,il-1β,and il-6 without decreasing the level of anti-inflammatory cytokine il-10. the msc + lps group exhibited significant improvements in lung inflammation,injury,edema,lung wet/dry ratio,protein concentration,and neutrophil counts in the balf,as well as improved myeloperoxidase (mpo) activity in the lung tissue. furthermore,uc-mscs decreased malondialdehyde (mda) production and increased heme oxygenase-1 (ho-1) protein production and activity in the lung tissue. conclusion: uc-mscs noticeably increased the survival rate of rats suffering from lps-induced lung injury and significantly reduced systemic and pulmonary inflammation. promoting anti-inflammatory homeostasis and reducing oxidative stress might be the therapeutic basis of uc-mscs. © 2012 li et al.