Novel stem cell treatment to combat pediatric inflammatory response during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery

Abstract

Abstract Cardioplegia and exposure to the heart-lung machine required in cardiopulmonary bypass induce a systemic inflammatory response. Adverse effects cause longer ICU stays, higher medical costs, and worsened mortality and morbidity, especially in neonatal and pediatric populations. nCPCs have been shown to have regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties when introduced in animal studies as a treatment. Surgeons at UMB performed cardiopulmonary bypass surgery on non survival porcine subjects with a control and treatment group of 6 porcine subjects in each. NDMU tested and analyzed serum samples of the subjects for immunological markers or interleukins. The results revealed that the treatment does seem to have an effect on the pro-inflammatory cytokines of TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 concentrations decreased significantly from 3124 to 1480 pg/mL, 8319 to 2714 pg/mL, and 18,011 to 10,825 pg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the treatment also has an effect on IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine, noted by an increase from 289 to 328 mg/mL. Overall, the treatment seems to have a greater effect on the macrophage immune response, while it seems to have little to no effect on the neutrophil immune response. Surgeons are currently working on survival porcine subjects. Moreover, H&E staining and RT-qPCR of samples will be performed to determine the localization of damage and relative expression of the cytokines of interest.