Authors: Carolina Caliari-Oliveira, Juliana Navarro Ueda Yaochite, Leandra Náira Zambelli Ramalho, Patrícia Vianna Bonini Palma, Fernando de Queiróz Cunha, Daurea Abadia De Souza, Marco Andrey Cipriani Frade, Dimas Tadeu Covas, Kelen Cristina Ribeiro Malmegrim, Maria Carolina Oliveira Rodrigues, and Julio César Voltarelli
Summary:
Major skin burns are difficult to treat. Patients often require special care and long-term hospitalization. Besides specific complications associated with the wounds themselves, there may be impairment of the immune system and of other organs. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are a recent therapeutic alternative to treat burns, mainly aiming to accelerate the healing process. Several MSC properties favor their use as therapeutic approach, as they promote angiogenesis, stimulate regeneration and enhance the immunoregulatory function. Moreover, since patients with extensive burns require urgent treatment and because the expansion of autologous MSCs is a timeconsuming process, in this present study we chose to evaluate the therapeutic potential of xenogeneic MSCs in the treatment of severe burns in rats. MSCs were isolated from mouse bone marrows, expanded in vitro and intradermally injected in the periphery of burn wounds. MSC-treated rats presented higher survival rates [76.19%] than control animals treated with PBS [60.86%](P<0.05). In addition, 60 days after the thermal injury, the MSC-treated group showed larger proportion of healed areas within the burn wounds [90.81% ± 5.05] than the PBS-treated group [76.11% ± 3.46](P = 0.03). We also observed that T CD4+ and CD8+ cells in spleens and in damaged skins, as well as the percentage of neutrophils in the burned area, were modulated by MSC treatment. Plasma cytokine (TGF-ß, IL-10, IL-6 and CINC-1) levels were also altered in the MSC-treated rats, when compared to controls. Number of injected GFP+ MSCs progressively decreased over time, and sixty days after injections, few MSCs were still detected in the skins of treated animals. This study demonstrates the therapeutic effectiveness of intradermal application of MSCs in a rat model of deep burns, providing basis for future regenerative therapies in patients suffering from deep burn injuries.
Source:
Cell Transplantation; published May 7, 2015