Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induce Liver Transplant Tolerance

Summary

Liver transplantation is the only lifesaving intervention for patients with end-stage liver diseases. Despite the ability of current immunosuppressive agents to reduce the incidence of acute rejection, the rate of acute rejection reaches to 20-50% after liver transplantation. Furthermore, the long-term toxicity associated with current regimens for liver transplant recipients now is increasingly being perceived as an unmet clinical need. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) appeared to be effective in regulating the invoked immune response in setting such as tissue injury, transplantation, and autoimmunity, and have been used successfully to treat graft versus host disease and show immune modulation function both in vitro and in vivo and may help in repairing damaged tissue(s). Here, we evaluate umbilical cord derived MSC (UC-MSC) as an alternative immunosuppressive agents for liver transplanted patients, and examine if UC-MSC could improve the recovery of liver function.

Timeline

Start

2012-02

Primary completion

2014-02

Completion

2015-02

Publications

• Results Tan J, Wu W, Xu X, Liao L, Zheng F, Messinger S, Sun X, Chen J, Yang S, Cai J, Gao X, Pileggi A, Ricordi C. Induction therapy with autologous mesenchymal stem cells in living-related kidney transplants: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2012 Mar 21;307(11):1169-77. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.316.
• Results Perico N, Casiraghi F, Introna M, Gotti E, Todeschini M, Cavinato RA, Capelli C, Rambaldi A, Cassis P, Rizzo P, Cortinovis M, Marasa M, Golay J, Noris M, Remuzzi G. Autologous mesenchymal stromal cells and kidney transplantation: a pilot study of safety and clinical feasibility. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2011 Feb;6(2):412-22. doi: 10.2215/CJN.04950610. Epub 2010 Oct 7.
• Results Le Blanc K, Frassoni F, Ball L, Locatelli F, Roelofs H, Lewis I, Lanino E, Sundberg B, Bernardo ME, Remberger M, Dini G, Egeler RM, Bacigalupo A, Fibbe W, Ringden O; Developmental Committee of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Mesenchymal stem cells for treatment of steroid-resistant, severe, acute graft-versus-host disease: a phase II study. Lancet. 2008 May 10;371(9624):1579-86. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60690-X.
• Results Shi M, Liu ZW, Wang FS. Immunomodulatory properties and therapeutic application of mesenchymal stem cells. Clin Exp Immunol. 2011 Apr;164(1):1-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2011.04327.x. Epub 2011 Feb 24.
• Results Zhang Z, Lin H, Shi M, Xu R, Fu J, Lv J, Chen L, Lv S, Li Y, Yu S, Geng H, Jin L, Lau GK, Wang FS. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells improve liver function and ascites in decompensated liver cirrhosis patients. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012 Mar;27 Suppl 2:112-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2011.07024.x.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.