Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Mar 26, 2022; 14(3): 264-266
Published online Mar 26, 2022. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v14.i3.264
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells as adjuvant therapy in COVID-19-associated acute lung injury and cytokine storm: Importance of cell identification
Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan
Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan, Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta 10430, DKI Jaya, Indonesia
Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan, Stem Cell Medical Technology Integrated Service Unit, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital/Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta 10430, DKI Jaya, Indonesia
Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan, Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Indonesia Medical Education and Research Institute (IMERI), Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta 10430, DKI Jaya, Indonesia
Author contributions: Pawitan JA designed the research, performed the research, analyzed data, wrote the letter, and revised the letter.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan has no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Gedung Anatomi, Jl. Salemba 6, Jakarta 10430, DKI Jaya, Indonesia. jeanneadiwip@gmail.com
Received: September 11, 2021
Peer-review started: September 11, 2021
First decision: November 17, 2021
Revised: November 23, 2021
Accepted: March 6, 2022
Article in press: March 6, 2022
Published online: March 26, 2022
Processing time: 194 Days and 20.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Several published studies, which used mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to alleviate coronavirus disease 2019-associated acute lung injury and cytokine storm, reported promising results. However, the evidence came from a case report, case series, and clinical trials with a limited number of participants. Therefore, more robust proof is needed. The studies and ongoing clinical trials used MSCs from various sources, and theoretically angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 negative subsets are preferable. Therefore, in future reporting of clinical trial results, the complete identity of the MSCs needs to be defined.