Mesenchymal Stem Cells Anti-Inflammatory Activity in Rats: Proinflammatory Cytokines

Many widespread intractable diseases are caused or supported by chronic inflammation. Such conditions include the 2nd type of diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases of the connective tissue - ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune myositis, etc. Therefore, the search for targeted treatment of these illnesses is extremely in high demand. Immunomodulatory activity of mesenchymal stem cells is one of their remarkable properties. Several biomarkers (cytokines and nonspecific proteins) are known to be associated with chronic inflammation.

Our study aimed to investigate the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein in carrageenan myositis in rats, because there is more and more evidence of the significance of these markers in the course and resolution of the diseases mentioned above. For the first time in our experiment, it was shown and evaluated using analysis of variance, how MSCs influence the indicators of proinflammatory cytokines on the model of carrageenan myositis. The levels of α-TNF, IL-6 and CRP in the plasma of rats were studied in groups with chronic carrageenan inflammation and chronic inflammation with local injection of MSCs into the affected area.

Our study proved the effectiveness of MSCs by showing a significant decrease in the levels of inflammatory mediators in the plasma of the studied animals.

Thus, the administration of MSCs is a promising tool in the pathogenic treatment of chronic inflammation and concomitant conditions.