Abstract
Most lower extremity ulcers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) will become chronic non-healing ulcers without treatments. However, established therapies, including glucocorticoid and immunosuppressive agentsdidn’t show a good efficacy. Some studies have shown umbilical-cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) could accelerate the healing of cutaneous wounds in mice. But no clinical trials of UC-MSCs in cutaneous wound healing have been reported in human. Here we found that UC-MSCs transplantation promoted the healing of ulcers in a RA patient who underwent no improvement with established therapies. This case showed the prospective of UC-MSCs’ application in treating recurrent ulcers in RA patients.
Highlights
Lower extremity ulcers are recognized complications of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and most of them will become chronic nonhealing ulcers without treatments
Umbilical-cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) are stem cells derived from the umbilical cord stroma, which can differentiate into a number of cell types including adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes, cardiomyocytes, skeletal myocytes, hepatocytes, insulin-producing cells, as well as neuron-like cells [7]
A postal survey administered to 1,130 RA patients in West Yorkshire, England, taken in 2008, revealed a point prevalence of foot ulceration in RA of 3.39%, and an overall prevalence of 9.73% [14]
Summary
Lower extremity ulcers are recognized complications of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and most of them will become chronic nonhealing ulcers without treatments. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) [2], bone-marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) [3], fibrocytes [4] and karotinocytes [5] have been shown to be helpful in the healing process of leg ulcers. Umbilical-cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) are stem cells derived from the umbilical cord stroma, which can differentiate into a number of cell types including adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteocytes, cardiomyocytes, skeletal myocytes, hepatocytes, insulin-producing cells, as well as neuron-like cells [7]. They have been shown to accelerate the healing of cutaneous wounds in mice [8,9]. We present the first case of a 42-year-old RA patient with severe large ulcers on the leg who was treated successfully by UC-MSCs transplantation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
