Therapeutic effects of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells on radiation-induced lung injury

• Published in: Oncology reports Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 731 - 738
• Main Authors: XIA, CHENGCHENG, CHANG, PENGYU, ZHANG, YUYU, SHI, WEIYAN, LIU, BIN, DING, LIJUAN, LIU, MIN, GAO, LING, DONG, LIHUA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.02.2016; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Animals; Bone marrow; Bone Marrow Cells; bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells; Care and treatment; Cell Differentiation - physiology; Complications and side effects; Cytokines; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Flow Cytometry; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Growth factors; Health aspects; Heterografts; Humans; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; Medical prognosis; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation - methods; Mice; Radiation Injuries, Experimental - complications; Radiation Injuries, Experimental - surgery; radiation pneumonitis; Radiation Pneumonitis - surgery; radiation pulmonary fibrosis; Radiotherapy; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Stem cells; thoracic tumor; Tissue engineering; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Veins & arteries; United States > US; China
• ISSN: 1021-335X; 1791-2431; 1791-2431
• DOI: 10.3892/or.2015.4433

Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a fatal condition featured by interstitial pneumonitis and fibrosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used for treating RILI in rodent models. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether the therapeutic effects of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) on RILI were in a dose-dependent manner. A total of 100 mice were randomly divided into: a control group (n=25), subject to lung irradiation and injection of phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) via the tail vein; and the hBM-MSC group, subject to lung irradiation followed by injection of a low dose (1×103 hBM-MSCs/g), medium dose (5×103 hBM-MSCs/g) and high dose (1×104 hBM-MSCs/g) of hBM-MSCs in PBS through the tail vein, respectively. After sacrifice, the pulmonary tissues were subject to hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, Masson's trichrome staining and immunohistochemical staining to investigate the pathological changes. Immunofluorescent staining was performed to evaluate the differentiation capacity of hBM-MSCs in vivo by analyzing the expression of SPC and PECAM. hBM-MSCs improved the survival rate and histopathological features in the irradiated mice, especially in the low-dose group. Marked decrease in collagen deposition was noted in the irradiated mice treated using a low dose of hBM-MSCs. In addition, hBM-MSCs attenuated secretion and expression of IL-10 and increased the expression of TNF-α. Furthermore, hBM-MSCs had the potential to differentiate into functional cells upon lung injury. Low-dose hBM-MSCs contributed to functional recovery in mice with RILI.