Human Placental Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of ARDS in Rat

Zurab Kakabadze; Nicholas Kipshidze; Teona Paresishvili; Nodar Kipshidze; Zurab Vadachkoria; David Chakhunashvili

doi:10.1155/2022/8418509

Human Placental Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of ARDS in Rat

Stem Cells Int. 2022 Jun 22:2022:8418509. doi: 10.1155/2022/8418509. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Zurab Kakabadze¹, Nicholas Kipshidze², Teona Paresishvili¹, Nodar Kipshidze², Zurab Vadachkoria³, David Chakhunashvili¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Anatomy, Tbilisi State Medical University, Tbilisi 0186, Georgia.
² Department of Interventional Cardiology, NY Cardiovascular Research, New York, NY 10019, USA.
³ Department of Child and Adolescent Maxillofacial Surgery and Surgical Stomatology, Tbilisi State Medical University, 0186 Tbilisi, Georgia.

Abstract

The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the main causes of high mortality in patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). In recent years, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of patients with ARDS has increased significantly. Unfortunately, until now, there are no effective treatments for ARDS caused by COVID-19. Many drugs are either ineffective or have a low effect. Currently, there have been reports of efficient use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the treatment of ARDS caused by COVID-19. We investigated the influence of freeze-dried human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HPMSCs) in ARDS rat model. All animals have received intratracheal injection of 6 mg/kg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The rats were randomly divided into five groups: I: LPS, II: LPS+dexamethasone, III: LPS+HPMSCs, IV: HPMSC, and V: saline. ARDS observation time was short-term and amounted to 168 hours. The study has shown that HPMSCs are able to migrate and attach to damaged lung tissue, contributing to the resolution of pathology, restoration of function, and tissue repair in the alveolar space. Studies have also shown that the administration of HPMSCs in animals with ARDS model significantly reduced the levels of key cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Freeze-dried placental stem cell is a very promising biomaterial for the treatment of ARDS. The human placenta can be easily obtained because it is considered as a medical waste. At the same time, a huge number of MSCs can be obtained from the placental tissue, and there is no ethical controversy around their use. The freeze-dried MSCs from human placental tissue can be stored sterile at room temperature for a long time before use.