Mesenchymal stem cells therapy facilitates donor lung preservation by reducing oxidative damage during ischemia

PACIENZA N.; ROBLEDO O.; MARCOS M.; SANTA-CRUZ D.; LEMUS G.; YANNARELLI G.; MALVICINI R.; BERTOLOTTI A.

Stem Cells International

Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Año: 2019

1687-9678

Lung transplantation is a lifesaving therapy for people living with severe, life-threatening lung disease. The high mortality rate among patients awaiting transplantation is mainly due to the low percentage of lungs that are deemed acceptable for implantation. Thus, the current shortage of lung donors may be significantly reduced by implementing different therapeutic strategies which facilitate both organ preservation and recovery. Here, we studied whether the anti-inflammatory effect of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (HUCPVCs) increases lung availability by improving organ preservation. We developed a lung preservation rat model that mimics the different stages by which donor organs must undergo before implantation. The therapeutic schema was as follows: cardiac arrest, warm ischemia (2h at room temperature), cold ischemia (1.5h at 4°C, with Perfadex), and normothermic lung perfusion with ventilation (Steen solution, 1h). After 1h of warm ischemia, HUCPVCs (1x106 cells) or vehicle were infused via the pulmonary artery. Physiologic data (pressure-volume curves) were acquired right after the cardiac arrest and at the end of the perfusion. Interestingly, although lung edema did not change among groups, lung compliance dropped a 34% in the HUCPVCs-treated group, while the vehicle group showed a stronger reduction (69%, p