Effect of allo-human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on T and B cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis in vitro / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effect of allo-human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on T and B cells from patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in vitro. Methods BMSCs were isolated from bone marrow samples of healthy volunteers and purified by density gradient centrifugation and cultured in vitro. Peripheral lymphocytes were isolated from patients with RA.Then, BMSCs and lymphpcutes were co-cultured. The modulatory effect of BMSCs on proliferation, activation and maturation of T and B lymphocytes of RA patients stimulated by PHA and SAC respectively was observed. The cell generation cycle and the degree of apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry with PI/ Annexin V. After co-cultured with or without BMSCs for 72 hours, T cells were harvested, then they were labeled with anti-CD3, anti-CD4, anti-CD8, anti-CD25 antibodies and analyzed by flow cytometry. The density of IgG in the co-culture system was detected by ELISA. Results T and B cells proliferation was significantly suppressed when co-cuhured with bMSCs but did not induce T cell apoptosis. There was a significant decrease in the ratio of CD4+ CD3+ T cells in the co-cuhure group (34±6), as compared with the control group (44±7) (P<0.05). There was a decrease in CD25+ T cells and increase of CD4+ CD25+ cells in BMSCs co-cultured group (P<0.05). IgG was in creased in the cocuhure system. Conclusion Human BMSCs inhibit T and B cell activation and proliferation in patients with RA in vitro. And these immunomodulatory effects are not MHC restricted. The results of this study have provided evidence for the fact that BMSCs has the potential to be an effective treatment for RA.