Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may have potential applications in regenerative medicine for the treatment of chronic liver diseases (CLDs). Human menstrual blood is a novel source of MSCs, termed menstrual blood‐derived stem cells (MenSCs). Compared with bone marrow MSCs, MenSCs exhibit a higher proliferation rate and they can be obtained through a simple, safe, painless procedure without ethical concerns. Although the therapeutic efficacy of MenSCs has been explored in some diseases, their effects on liver fibrosis are still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of MenSC transplantation in a carbon tetrachloride‐induced mouse model of liver fibrosis. These results revealed that MenSCs markedly improved liver function, attenuated collagen deposition, and inhibited activated hepatic stellate cells up to 2 weeks after transplantation. Moreover, tracking of green fluorescent protein‐expressing MenSCs demonstrated that transplanted cells migrated to the sites of injury, but few differentiated into functional hepatocyte‐like cells. Transwell coculturing experiments also showed that MenSCs suppressed proliferation of LX‐2 cells (an immortalized hepatic stellate cell line) through secretion of monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, interleukin‐6, hepatocyte growth factor, growth‐related oncogene, interleukin‐8, and osteoprotegerin. Collectively, our results provided preliminary evidence for the antifibrotic capacity of MenSCs in liver fibrosis and suggested that these cells may be an alternative therapeutic approach for the treatment of CLDs. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:272–284
Highlights
Liver fibrosis occurs at the final stages of various chronic liver diseases and causes a huge burden with high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1, 2]
Adipose tissue (AT) is another common source with larger quantities of progenitor cells compared with the bone marrow (BM), and AT-Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been studied in STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 20176;65:217–21–328w4ww.wStwe.mStCeemllCsTeMlls.TcMom.com
Our group and Khanjani et al have reported that menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) can effectively differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells in vitro [39, 40], the present study suggested that few, if any, MenSCs underwent hepatocyte differentiation based on cytokeratin 18 (CK-18) expression
Summary
Liver fibrosis occurs at the final stages of various chronic liver diseases and causes a huge burden with high rates of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1, 2]. Orthotopic liver transplantation is the most effective therapy for reversing fibrotic liver; its application is restricted because of organ donor shortage, surgical complications, and the requirement for lifelong immunosuppression [5, 6]. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy may be an attractive option to treat liver fibrosis [6,7,8]. The bone marrow (BM) is the most common source of MSCs, and BM-MSCs have been extensively studied in animal models and clinical trials to evaluate their therapeutic effects [5, 9,10,11,12,13], the isolation of BM-MSCs is a painful and invasive procedure to donors [8, 14]. Adipose tissue (AT) is another common source with larger quantities of progenitor cells compared with the BM, and AT-MSCs have been studied in STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 20176;65:217–21–328w4ww.wStwe.mStCeemllCsTeMlls.TcMom.com
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