Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) as a Potential Therapeutic Strategy in COVID-19 Patients: Literature Research

Abstract

In 2019, an outbreak of an unknown coronavirus-SARS-CoV-2-responsible for COVID-19 disease, was first reported in China, and evolved into a pandemic of huge dimensions and raised serious concerns for global health. The number of critical cases continues to increase dramatically, while vaccines and specific treatments are not yet available. There are several strategies currently being studied for the treatment of adverse symptoms of COVID-19, that encompass Acute Lung Injury (ALI)/Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), extensive pulmonary inflammation, cytokine storm, and pulmonary edema, due to virus-induced pneumonia. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are at the origin of new revolutionary treatments, which may come to be applied in such as Regenerative Medicine, Immunotherapy, Tissue Engineering, and Cell and Molecular Biology due to immunomodulation and anti-inflammatory activity. MSCs have already been studied with positive outcomes for other lung pathologies, thus representing and being identified as an important opportunity for the treatment of COVID-19. It has recently been shown that these cells allow hopeful and effective therapies for serious or critical COVID-19, minimizing its adverse symptoms. In this study we will analyze the MSCs, their origin, differentiation, and therapeutic potential, making a bridge with the COVID-19 disease and its characteristics, as a potential therapeutic strategy but also reporting recent studies where these cell-based therapies were used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy for Regenerative Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Opportunities and Challenges

“…In recent years, the use of UC-MSCs to treat rheumatic immune diseases has garnered increasing attention, [6][7][8][9] and the promising results of preclinical studies suggest that UC-MSCs may be a therapeutic method for regenerative medicine. 7,10,11 However, there have been few studies regarding the effects of UC-MSCs on patients with RA who had recurrent symptoms after long-term treatment with regular agents in the clinic. However, there is still a pressing need for examining efficiency and safety considerations of UC-MSCs in clinical investigations.…”

Mesenchymal Stem Cells: The Secret Children’s Weapons against the SARS-CoV-2 Lethal Infection

“…According to Luc Montagnier study group, the significant engineered sequences, are all crucial for the penetration into the cells of the human lungs [22]. So, it would be legitimate to assume that the use of MSCs might contribute not only to reduce the invasiveness and the aggressiveness of SARS-CoV-2, but should be also considered a valid tool in immunocompromised COVID-19 patients, as they would preclude any viral changes, which implies the formation of a reservoir of unresponsive molecules and factors towards endogenous immune inhibitors [20,[23][24][25][26][27][28].…”

Regulation of Inflammatory Cytokine Storms by Mesenchymal Stem Cells

“…MSCs have the advantage of low immunogenicity and can exert immunomodulatory effects through direct contact with immune cells and the secretion of soluble factors. MSCs also tend to be targeted to inflammatory sites to play anti-inflammatory roles ( 31 ). At the site of tissue injury, inflammatory mediators produced by the local microenvironment during acute inflammation activate the differentiation of monocytes into M1 macrophages.…”

“…The essence of a cytokine storm is an excessive immune response caused by various stimuli, which was first used to describe graft versus host disease ( 13 ). During a cytokine storm, the roles of cytokines in the immune response are complex, showing characteristics of a network, and these cytokines play roles in inducing local inflammation, promoting disease progression, regulating cellular and molecular immune responses, eliminating infection, and regulating tissue repair ( 14 ). Cytokine storms can cause serious damage to the body, such as hyaline membrane formation, diffuse alveolar injury, and fibrin exudation, and then accelerate lung injury, while serious lung injury and cytokine storms in the circulatory system further induce multiple organ dysfunction and injury throughout the body ( 15 , 16 ).…”