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World J Stem Cells. Jun 26, 2026; 18(6): 116526
Published online Jun 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.116526
Published online Jun 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.116526
Therapeutic effects of human amniotic epithelial cell-derived and umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes on preeclamptic rats
Lu-Yao Han, Wen-Zhu Zhang, Yu Zhang, Wan Zhong, Jing-Li Sun, Jian Shen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (Heping Campus), Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China
Lu-Yao Han, China Medical University, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China
Co-first authors: Lu-Yao Han and Wen-Zhu Zhang.
Author contributions: Han LY and Zhang WZ contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors. Han LY and Zhong W contributed to data curation; Han LY contributed to formal analysis, investigation, and writing-original draft; Zhang WZ contributed to project administration, writing-review & editing; Zhang Y contributed to writing-review & editing; Sun JL contributed to methodology; Shen J contributed to conceptualization, supervision, and funding acquisition. All authors have read and approved the final version to be published.
Supported by Shenyang Science and Technology Plan in 2022, No. 22-321-32-16.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and were approved by the Animal Medical Research Ethics Committee of the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (Approval No. 2024-19).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Jian Shen, PhD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Northern Theater Command (Heping Campus), No. 5 Guangrong Street, Heping District, Shenyang 110000, Liaoning Province, China. shenjian99@sina.com
Received: November 28, 2025
Revised: December 31, 2025
Accepted: March 25, 2026
Published online: June 26, 2026
Processing time: 208 Days and 23.4 Hours
Revised: December 31, 2025
Accepted: March 25, 2026
Published online: June 26, 2026
Processing time: 208 Days and 23.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious obstetric syndrome, and effective therapeutic options are required urgently. This study demonstrates that exosomes derived from human amniotic epithelial cells and umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can function as innovative cell-free agents. Treatment with these exosomes effectively ameliorated key pathological features, including hypertension, proteinuria, and placental damage, in a rat model of PE. The underlying mechanisms involve multi-target modulation of angiogenic and inflammatory pathways. These findings highlight the clinical translation potential of exosomes derived from human amniotic epithelial cells and umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells as novel therapeutic strategies for PE.