TY - JOUR
T1 - Transplantation of ACE2- Mesenchymal stem cells improves the outcome of patients with covid-19 pneumonia
AU - Leng, Zikuan
AU - Zhu, Rongjia
AU - Hou, Wei
AU - Feng, Yingmei
AU - Yang, Yanlei
AU - Han, Qin
AU - Shan, Guangliang
AU - Meng, Fanyan
AU - Du, Dongshu
AU - Wang, Shihua
AU - Fan, Junfen
AU - Wang, Wenjing
AU - Deng, Luchan
AU - Shi, Hongbo
AU - Li, Hongjun
AU - Hu, Zhongjie
AU - Zhang, Fengchun
AU - Gao, Jinming
AU - Liu, Hongjian
AU - Li, Xiaoxia
AU - Zhao, Yangyang
AU - Yin, Kan
AU - He, Xijing
AU - Gao, Zhengchao
AU - Wang, Yibin
AU - Yang, Bo
AU - Jin, Ronghua
AU - Stambler, Ilia
AU - Lim, Lee Wei
AU - Su, Huanxing
AU - Moskalev, Alexey
AU - Cano, Antonio
AU - Chakrabarti, Sasanka
AU - Min, Kyung Jin
AU - Ellison-Hughes, Georgina
AU - Caruso, Calogero
AU - Jin, Kunlin
AU - Zhao, Robert Chunhua
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Leng Z et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - A coronavirus (HCoV-19) has caused the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China. Preventing and reversing the cytokine storm may be the key to save the patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to possess a comprehensive powerful immunomodulatory function. This study aims to investigate whether MSC transplantation improves the outcome of 7 enrolled patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in Beijing YouAn Hospital, China, from Jan 23, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020. The clinical outcomes, as well as changes of inflammatory and immune function levels and adverse effects of 7 enrolled patients were assessed for 14 days after MSC injection. MSCs could cure or significantly improve the functional outcomes of seven patients without observed adverse effects. The pulmonary function and symptoms of these seven patients were significantly improved in 2 days after MSC transplantation. Among them, two common and one severe patient were recovered and discharged in 10 days after treatment. After treatment, the peripheral lymphocytes were increased, the C-reactive protein decreased, and the overactivated cytokine-secreting immune cells CXCR3+CD4+ T cells, CXCR3+CD8+ T cells, and CXCR3+ NK cells disappeared in 3-6 days. In addition, a group of CD14+CD11c+CD11bmid regulatory DC cell population dramatically increased. Meanwhile, the level of TNF-α was significantly decreased, while IL-10 increased in MSC treatment group compared to the placebo control group. Furthermore, the gene expression profile showed MSCs were ACE2- and TMPRSS2- which indicated MSCs are free from COVID-19 infection. Thus, the intravenous transplantation of MSCs was safe and effective for treatment in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, especially for the patients in critically severe condition.
AB - A coronavirus (HCoV-19) has caused the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China. Preventing and reversing the cytokine storm may be the key to save the patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to possess a comprehensive powerful immunomodulatory function. This study aims to investigate whether MSC transplantation improves the outcome of 7 enrolled patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in Beijing YouAn Hospital, China, from Jan 23, 2020 to Feb 16, 2020. The clinical outcomes, as well as changes of inflammatory and immune function levels and adverse effects of 7 enrolled patients were assessed for 14 days after MSC injection. MSCs could cure or significantly improve the functional outcomes of seven patients without observed adverse effects. The pulmonary function and symptoms of these seven patients were significantly improved in 2 days after MSC transplantation. Among them, two common and one severe patient were recovered and discharged in 10 days after treatment. After treatment, the peripheral lymphocytes were increased, the C-reactive protein decreased, and the overactivated cytokine-secreting immune cells CXCR3+CD4+ T cells, CXCR3+CD8+ T cells, and CXCR3+ NK cells disappeared in 3-6 days. In addition, a group of CD14+CD11c+CD11bmid regulatory DC cell population dramatically increased. Meanwhile, the level of TNF-α was significantly decreased, while IL-10 increased in MSC treatment group compared to the placebo control group. Furthermore, the gene expression profile showed MSCs were ACE2- and TMPRSS2- which indicated MSCs are free from COVID-19 infection. Thus, the intravenous transplantation of MSCs was safe and effective for treatment in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, especially for the patients in critically severe condition.
KW - ACE2 negative
KW - Cell transplantation
KW - COVID-19
KW - Function recovery
KW - Immunomodulation
KW - Mesenchymal stem cells
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082424283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.14336/AD.2020.0228
DO - 10.14336/AD.2020.0228
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85082424283
SN - 2152-5250
VL - 11
SP - 216
EP - 228
JO - Aging and Disease
JF - Aging and Disease
IS - 2
ER -