骨髓间充质干细胞移植治疗系统性红斑狼疮

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND: The non-specific immune suppression method is generally used for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, but poor prognosis, such as infection and high recurrence rate, exists. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on systemic lupus erythematosus in mice.METHODS: Sixteen mice with systemic lupus erythematosus were equivalently randomized into control and experimental groups, or then subjected to passage 3 bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation or the equal volume of normal saline via the tail vein, respectively. Mouse urine samples were collected to detect urine protein levels by Bradford method. Blood samples from the tip of the mouse tail were extracted to detect serum anti-ds-DNS antibody concentration by radioimmunoassay. Mouse kidney tissues were taken and observed pathohistologically through hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry staining under microscope. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD4+CD25+T cells in the inner canthus blood, fresh spleen and thymus.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Within 10 weeks after cell transplantation, the urine protein levels in the two groups were gradually increased, and the rising velocity was higher in the control group than in the experimental group. From the 4th to 10th week, the urine protein levels in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In the control group, lymphocyte infiltration was visible in the kidney tissues with a few of plasmocytes, and pathological findings showed the mice presented with interstitial nephritis; in the experimental group, the mice had no pathological changes in the kidney. In the two groups, immune complexes were found in the mesangial area, which showed a patch-like distribution in the control group and a punctate distribution in the experimental group; the relative proportion of the occupied area in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group. The expression level of CD4+CD25+T cells in the blood and thymus were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (P < 0.05), and the expression level of CD4+CD25+T cells in the spleen was slightly higher in the experimental group than the control group with no significant difference (P > 0.05). The serum anti-ds-DNA antibody concentration in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Taken together, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation can improve the pathological damage in systemic lupus erythematosus mice, and has a certain therapeutic effect on systemic lupus erythematosus.