ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on secretion of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages stimulated by lipopolysacharide (LPS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat BMSCs and macrophages were isolated, cultured, and identified. The BMSCs and macrophages, cultured alone or in co-culture, were treated with LPS or PBS or without treatment and tested for interleukin-10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentrations in the supernatants at 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, and 24 h after the treatment using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Exposure to LPS caused significantly increased IL-10 and TNF-α concentrations in the supernatant of cultured macrophages but not in BMSC culture. Macrophages co-cultured with BMSCs showed significantly lowered IL-10 and TNF-α secretions in response to LPS exposure as compared with the macrophages cultured alone.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BMSCs can reduce LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines by the macrophages to ameliorate inflammatory reactions.</p>