Jing GX, Wang ZP, Sun HY, Zhang Y, Gu GQ. Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for severe acute pancreatitis-associated lung injury: A meta-analysis of animal studies. World J Stem Cells 2026; 18(9): 124515 [DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.124515]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Guang-Qiang Gu, Chief, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, The Affiliated Mianyang Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 190 East Section of Jiannan Road, Youxian District, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China. ggq197861@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
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research-article
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Jing GX, Wang ZP, Sun HY, Zhang Y, Gu GQ. Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for severe acute pancreatitis-associated lung injury: A meta-analysis of animal studies. World J Stem Cells 2026; 18(9): 124515 [DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.124515]
Guang-Xu Jing, Guang-Qiang Gu, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, The Affiliated Mianyang Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China
Zhang-Peng Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, People’s Hospital of Luzhou, Luzhou 646000, Sichuan Province, China
Hong-Yu Sun, General Surgery Center of PLA and Pancreatic Injury and Repair Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, The General Hospital of Western Theater Command, Chengdu 610083, Sichuan Province, China
Yu Zhang, Unit 32261 of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Kunming 650000, Yunnan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Yu Zhang and Guang-Qiang Gu.
Author contributions: Jing GX wrote the abstract, discussion, and results; Wang ZP was responsible for data collection and mapping; Sun HY provided guidance for the article; Gu GQ and Zhang Y oversaw and guided the entire project, they contributed equally to this manuscript and are the co-corresponding authors. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: No AI was used in this article.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81772001.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Corresponding author: Guang-Qiang Gu, Chief, Chief Physician, Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Hospital of Mianyang, Sichuan Mental Health Center, The Affiliated Mianyang Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 190 East Section of Jiannan Road, Youxian District, Mianyang 621000, Sichuan Province, China. ggq197861@163.com
Received: June 17, 2026 Revised: July 18, 2026 Accepted: September 23, 2026 Published online: September 26, 2026 Processing time: 99 Days and 15.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
This study is to evaluate the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome-acute lung injury (ALI), so as to provide evidence-based reference for the clinical use of stem cells in the treatment of acute lung injury associated with pancreatitis in the future.
AIM
To systematically evaluate the efficacy of MSC transplantation in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP)-ALI.
METHODS
Databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, SinoMed, PubMed, and Web of Science, were electronically searched for animal experiments on MSC transplantation for SAP-ALI from inception of the databases to August 1, 2024. Two researchers independently retrieved the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of individual studies. Meta-analysis was performed using the RevMan 5.4 software.
RESULTS
A total of 13 randomized controlled animal experiments were included, involving 248 rats, with 124 rats in the MSC group and 124 in the model control group. Meta-analysis indicated that MSC transplantation reduced the histopathological scores of pancreatic tissues and lung tissues [standardized mean difference (SMD) = -3.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): -3.99 to -2.25] in SAP rats. Additionally, MSC transplantation decreased lung wet-to-dry weight ratio (weighted mean difference = -0.50, 95%CI: -0.64 to -0.36), myeloperoxidase activity (SMD = -3.29, 95%CI: -4.40 to -2.19), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level (SMD = -3.57, 95%CI: -5.49 to -1.64) and its mRNA expression (SMD = -3.74, 95%CI: -5.27 to -2.20) as well as serum TNF-α levels (SMD = -3.51, 95%CI: -4.51 to -2.51). Compared with the control group, the MSC group had significantly lower serum amylase levels (SMD = -3.63, 95%CI: -4.54 to -2.72).
CONCLUSION
MSC transplantation can reduce the pulmonary inflammatory response and alleviate SAP-ALI in SAP rats. However, due to the limited number of included studies and sample size, further multicenter, large-scale randomized controlled trials are warranted to validate our findings.
Core Tip: Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation can effectively reduce the pulmonary inflammatory response and alleviate the pathological damage of lung tissue in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), thus playing a significant protective role in SAP-related lung injury. However, due to the limited number of included studies and heterogeneity among studies, the robustness of the existing conclusions is insufficient. Therefore, multi-center, large-sample, rigorously designed randomized controlled trials combined with standardized stem cell preparation and administration regimen are needed to further systematically evaluate its efficacy, safety and long-term prognosis, so as to provide a higher level of evidence for clinical application.
