Regulation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on CD3+CD8interleukin-17A+T cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the regulatory effects of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC -MSCs) on Th17 cells and related cytokines in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Human UC-MSCs were isolated and expanded and infused into fourteen SLE patients. Clinical changes were evaluated before and after transplantation by SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), 24-hour urine protein, serum albumin and complement C3. The percentages of CD3 +CD8-IL17A + T cells in peripheral blood were detected by flow cytometry. Concentrations of plasma IL-6, TGF-β, IL-17A, IL-22were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). UC-MSCs and peripheral blood mononindependent samples t-test. Results SLEDAI scores decreased significantly at 3 month (7.8±1.2, t=2.19) and 6 month (6.9±0.9, t=4.2) after UC-MSCs transplantation than pre-transplantation level (10.4±0.9, P0.05).Conclusion UC-MSCs transplantation down-regulates the percentages of CD3+CD8-IL17A+T cells in SLE patients, which may be one of the mechanisms for its therapeutic effect in refractory SLE.