Umbilical cord blood stem cells transplantation as an adjunctive treatment strategy for liver cirrhosis in Chinese population: a meta-analysis of effectiveness and safety

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of umbilical cord blood stem cells (USCs) transplantation combined with routine supportive therapy (RST) for liver cirrhosis (LC).Materials and methodsClinical trials involved in this research were searched from Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang and CNKI database. Treatment effects, quality of life (QoL), adverse events and other outcome measures were extracted and evaluated.ResultsA total of 10 trials including 616 LC patients were involved in this study. Based on our analysis, the liver function of LC patients was significantly improved after USCs transplantation and RST combined therapy, indicated by decreased total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase levels and prothrombin time and increased serum albumin level and prothrombin activity. Compared to those treated by RST alone, patients treated by combined therapy showed more satisfied treatment effects, improved QoL reflected by improved appetite (odds ratio [OR]=5.43, 95% CI=2.84 to 10.38, P<0.00001) and relieved fatigue (OR=4.33, 95% CI=0.87 to 21.60, P=0.07), ascetic fluid (OR=4.56, 95% CI=2.69 to 7.74, P<0.00001), abdominal distension (OR=4.01, 95% CI=1.34 to 12.02, P=0.01) and edema (OR=2.69, 95% CI=0.23 to 31.72, P=0.43). No serious adverse events occurred during USCs therapy.ConclusionUSCs transplantation is a safe and effective adjuvant therapy for RST-treated LC, possibly through improving patients’ liver function.

Efficacy and safety of stem cells transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus—a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Due to the intrinsic regenerative potential and immunomodulatory abilities, the stem cells (SCs) therapy has opened up a breakthrough approach to cure autoimmune disease. Meta-analyses of studies on SCs therapy indicated a certain potential to treat liver cirrhosis [3][4][5], chronic liver disease [6], inflammatory bowel disease [7] and ischemic heart disease [8]. SCs therapy also showed a potential effect to halt or abolish the autoimmune destruction of β cells and to generate functional β cells which could achieve optimized glycemic control in T1DM [9][10][11][12][13].…”

Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation for Patients with Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis

“…14 Prior studies have shown that HUCB-MSCs can safely and effectively improve liver function as shown by improvements to Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) and model for endstage liver disease (MELD) scores in patients with liver cirrhosis. 15,16 However, there is a lack of data on the long-term efficacy of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation, particularly in patients with liver cirrhosis. Moreover, transplantation of stem cells also carries safety risks such as the potential for tumor development.…”