Published online Mar 26, 2015. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v7.i2.368
Peer-review started: October 1, 2014
First decision: October 28, 2014
Revised: November 13, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 17, 2014
Published online: March 26, 2015
Processing time: 171 Days and 18.6 Hours
Sepsis is a clinical syndrome caused by a deregulated host response to an infection. Sepsis is the most frequent cause of death in hospitalized patients. Although knowledge of the pathogenesis of sepsis has increased substantially during the last decades, attempts to design effective and specific therapies targeting components of the derailed host response have failed. Therefore, there is a dramatic need for new and mechanistically alternative therapies to treat this syndrome. Based on their immunomodulatory properties, adult mesenchymal stem or stromal cells (MSCs) can be a novel therapeutic tool to treat sepsis. Indeed, MSCs reduce mortality in experimental models of sepsis by modulating the deregulated inflammatory response against bacteria through the regulation of multiple inflammatory networks, the reprogramming of macrophages and neutrophils towards a more anti-inflammatory phenotype and the release of anti-microbial peptides. This report will review the current knowledge on the effects of MSC treatment in preclinical experimental small animal models of sepsis.
Core tip: Sepsis remains as the most frequent cause of death in hospitalized patients and, therefore, new therapeutic alternatives are needed. Adult mesenchymal stem cells reduce mortality in experimental models of sepsis by modulating the deregulated inflammatory response against bacteria through the regulation of multiple inflammatory networks, the reprogramming of macrophages and neutrophils towards a more anti-inflammatory phenotype and the release of anti-microbial peptides. In this report we aim to provide a comprehensive snapshot of the potential clinical use of cell therapy with mesenchymal stem cells for sepsis.