Stem Cell Res Ther Intravenous Infusion of Human Umbilical Cord Wharton's Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Potential Treatment for Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia

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Stem Cell Res Ther


. 2020 May 27;11(1):207.
doi: 10.1186/s13287-020-01725-4.
Intravenous Infusion of Human Umbilical Cord Wharton's Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Potential Treatment for Patients With COVID-19 Pneumonia


Yingxin Zhang ¹ , Jie Ding ¹ , Shaoda Ren ¹ , Weihua Wang ¹ , Yapei Yang ¹ , Shuangjing Li ¹ , Min Meng ¹ , Tiejun Wu ² , Daliang Liu ³ , Suochen Tian ² , Hui Tian ² , Shuangfeng Chen ⁴ , Changhui Zhou ⁵



Affiliations

• PMID: 32460839
• DOI: 10.1186/s13287-020-01725-4

Free article

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has grown to be a global public health emergency since patients were first detected in Wuhan, China. Thus far, no specific drugs or vaccines are available to cure the patients with COVID-19 infection. The immune system and inflammation are proposed to play a central role in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to possess a comprehensive powerful immunomodulatory function. Intravenous infusion of MSCs has shown promising results in COVID-19 treatment. Here, we report a case of a severe COVID-19 patient treated with human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs (hWJCs) from a healthy donor in Liaocheng People's Hospital, China, from February 24, 2020. The pulmonary function and symptoms of the patient with COVID-19 pneumonia was significantly improved in 2 days after hWJC transplantation, and recovered and discharged in 7 days after treatment. After treatment, the percentage and counts of lymphocyte subsets (CD3⁺, CD4⁺, and CD8⁺ T cell) were increased, and the level of IL-6, TNF-α, and C-reactive protein is significantly decreased after hWJC treatment. Thus, the intravenous transplantation of hWJCs was safe and effective for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, especially for the patients in a critically severe condition. This report highlights the potential of hWJC infusions as an effective treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia.

Keywords: COVID-19; Human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly-derived MSCs; Immunomodulatory; Treatment.