Review of the Delivery Route for Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Through Skeletal Muscle

by admin | Oct 11, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have repeatedly demonstrated the capacity to limit injury and promote regeneration through signaling and secretion of trophic factors. Considering this, MSCs have been increasingly used as a treatment for a wide variety of injuries and immune-related, infectious, and degenerative diseases.  

In this review, Jahromi et al. provide a brief overview of the fate and efficacy of intramuscular (IM) delivered MSCs and identify the gaps that require additional study before IM-delivered MSCs are adopted as a primary treatment of systemic diseases.

Specifically, a recent study has demonstrated significant advantages of using skeletal muscle for the delivery of MSC. While skeletal muscle has been used as a delivery route for myopathic, neurodegenerative, and vascular diseases, these studies have identified 3 main advantages of skeletal muscle MSC delivery. 

These advantages include extended dwell time provided by dense muscle fibers that retain the MSCs in situ; high vascular density that provides a conduit for systemic release of MSC trophic factors; and an abundance of tissue that allows for multiple injection sites.  

Research has identified two key factors that profoundly affect observed dwell-time variations of 72 hours to 8 months observed in MSCs transplanted in the skeletal muscle; these factors include immune rejection and the methods used for MSC detections. Considering this, the authors point out that allotransplantation provides an advantage since MSCs exhibit low immunogenicity and are expected to evade the immune system. 

Although little information on the IM delivery of MSCs currently exists, previously conducted clinical trials demonstrated no therapeutic advantage of using higher doses of MSCs; other studies demonstrated medium doses of MSCs to be more effective than either a lower or higher dose.

While IM-delivery has been shown to be clinically safe and increases the longevity of the secretory activity of the delivered cells, the authors point out that it is important to further evaluate the fate of MSCs post-delivery in skeletal muscle.

Jahromi et al. conclude that the studies reviewed as part of this brief collectively support the notion of broadening the applicability of IM-delivery route from local therapy to the treatment of system disease with multiple studies demonstrating IM-delivered MSCs to be safe and to provide and extended dwell time while remaining secretorily active.

Source:   “Concise Review: Skeletal Muscle as a Delivery Route for … – NCBI.” 5 Feb. 2019, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6477141/.

Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Managing Symptoms of Ankylosing Spondylitis

by admin | Oct 4, 2023 | Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Therapy

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic and progressive inflammatory disease that primarily affects the sacroiliac joints and the spine; in rare cases, AS can also cause issues for the peripheral joints and extra-articular organs, including the skin, eyes, and cardiovascular system.

While there are a number of drugs prescribed to treat symptoms associated with AS, there is currently not a cure for AS nor is there a  non-pharmaceutical method for treating the condition and its symptoms.

Considering the potent immune-modulated activity and their ability to inhibit B cell differentiation, T cell activation, and proliferation, researchers have increasingly been exploring the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a potential treatment option for a number of autoimmune diseases.  

In this current study, Li et al. evaluated the therapeutic effects of umbilical cord MSC (uMSC) transplantation in patients with AS. This review summarizes the authors’ findings.

Specifically, Li et al.’s study evaluated 5 patients with AS after receiving intravenous transfusions of uMSCs.

After receiving an intravenous uMSC transfusion, the authors reported lower levels of inflammation, slowed progression of AS, and reduced levels of ESR, CRP, and other specific markers indicative of improved spinal functions and spinal movement in subjects with AS.  

Considering these findings, the authors conclude that uMSC transplantation is feasible and safe and induces limited side effects.

The authors of this study also highlight a number of limitations, including the low number of patients, limited statistical analysis, and lack of a control group that did not receive an infusion.

In light of these results, Li et al. call for future studies using a larger cohort of patients with AS to enable the systematic evaluation of uMSC in treating symptoms of AS.

Source: “Infusion of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells alleviates … – NCBI.” 27 Jun. 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5526206/.