Utility of bone marrow mononuclear cells as a novel therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

Abstract

Background Stem cells have undifferentiated cells that have can proliferate to one or more cells. Exogenous stem cells derived from embryonic and adult tissues could be used in the regeneration of diseased organs, including lung and tissue. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pathogenesis plays a major role in the upregulation of inflammation, making irreversible procedure, like apoptosis of cells, lysis of the components of extracellular matrix in lung. All treatments of COPD to date have involved pharmacological therapy and mainly target the symptoms; hence, there is an urgent need for novel and more effective therapeutic strategies. Mesenchymal stem cells are considered a therapy in COPD more for their immune modulatory effects. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the effect of stem cell therapy on mild-to-moderate COPD patients, either by infusion or by inhalation, on the basis of pulmonary function tests and quality of life. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 30 patients with COPD divided into three groups: 10 patients received COPD medication alone according to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines (long-acting B2 agonist and inhaled corticosteroids) as a control group, 10 patients received COPD medication plus stem cell infusion, and 10 patients received COPD medication plus stem cell inhalation. Pulmonary functions tests were performed and the quality of life was determined in all patient groups. Results The pulmonary functions tests showed an insignificant increase in mild-to-moderate COPD patients after 1 month of stem cell, both by infusion and by inhalation, but there was a significant increase in the quality of life with the use of both methods of stem cell treatment compared with the control group. Conclusion Stem cell therapy leads to significant improvements in the quality of life of patients with mild-to-moderate COPD.