The effect of allogenetic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell transplantation on lung aquaporin-1 and -5 in a rat model of severe acute pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We aimed to determine the effect of transplantation on post- ALI (acute lung injury) edema in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and the expression levels of aquaporins -1 and -5 (AQP-1 and -5). METHODOLOGY: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into control-SAP and BMSCs-SAP groups. SAP model was prepared through retrograde injection of 5% taurocholic acid. BMSCs were isolated from the bone marrow of SD rats. We examined SAP rats for levels of IL-1ß and TNF-a, and for AQP-1 and -5 expression in lung tissues at 6 and 12 hours. RESULTS: The levels of IL-1ß and TNF-a in BMSC-SAP rats were lower than in control-SAP rats (both, p<0.001). Real-time RT-PCR analysis showed that AQP-1 mRNA expression in BMSC-SAP rats was higher than that in control-SAP rats (p=0.005 and p<0.001), and AQP-5 mRNA expression in BMSC-SAP rats was also higher than that in control-SAP rats (p=0.031 and p=0.006). Western blotting analysis showed that AQP-1 and AQP-5 protein levels at 12h were significantly higher in BMSC-SAP rats than in control-SAP rats (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Allogenic BMSC transplantation can protect against ALI in a rat SAP model and can also regulate the expression levels of AQP-1 and -5 by inhibiting IL-1ß and TNF-a.