When it comes to immunity, many people believe that immunity is the body's ability to resist diseases, and strong immunity is a good thing.
In fact, when the immune response exceeds the normal range and even attacks normal tissue cells, it is an autoimmune disease. At present, there are at least 100 autoimmune diseases, and the main ones we continue to focus on are: rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, autoimmune liver disease, etc.
Autoimmune diseases have extremely high disability and mortality rates. Once sick, most patients need to take long-term or even lifelong medication, and some diseases (such as lupus nephropathy) are dangerous, seriously affecting the quality of life of patients, and even threatening the safety of patients.
Causes of autoimmune diseases
Normally, the body's immune system is able to recognize and remove foreign antigens, and they know what is "their own person" and what is "foreign thing". However, when the body is affected by internal and external factors or genetic factors, the immune system is dysbalanced and mistakenly judges the normal components of the human body as a risk factor.
Such a serious miscalculation leads to the immune system starting to attack healthy cells in the body, which eventually leads to tissue and organ damage or dysfunction, leading to autoimmune diseases.
As we all know, most autoimmune diseases are refractory diseases, and the existing treatment methods (mainly using hormone therapy, which has large toxic side effects) can only control the progression of these diseases or alleviate symptoms, and basically cannot cure them.
But it is this "hard bone" that leaves stem cells with the opportunity to shine.
Stem cells: the right "mediator"
When the human immune system is "war", stem cells are undoubtedly the most suitable "mediator".
Stem cells have the potential for self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation, and can differentiate into mature functional cells under different induction conditions, replace and repair dead and damaged cells, and have shown good immune regulation and tissue repair effects in a number of clinical studies.
For autoimmune diseases, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases, and the main mechanisms of action are as follows:
1
Cell differentiation and migration
MSCs have the immunomodulatory ability to migrate to the site of injury, differentiate into functional cells, secrete growth factors and anti-inflammatory factors, and maintain or remodel their cell functions.
2
Immunomodulation
MSCs interact with immune cells through direct cell-to-cell interaction and paracrine, which can inhibit T cell proliferation, regulate the ratio of Th2/Th1 cells, and inhibit cell proliferation and antibody production.
In addition, MSCs also affect the cell activation and maturation process of natural killer cells and dendritic cells, and regulate the function of regulatory T cells to produce immunosuppressive effects.
Stem cells improve the case for autoimmune diseases
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
In 2022, the "Expert Consensus on the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus" jointly completed by many experts in the field of rheumatology and immunology in China made the application of mesenchymal stem cells in SLE "knowledgeable" to follow. The consensus clearly states that more than 1,500 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have received mesenchymal stem cell intervention worldwide. The intervention of mesenchymal stem cells has greatly improved the intervention effect of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and improved the quality of life and prognosis of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
At present, there are 33 research projects registered on the clinical Trials.gov for stem cell intervention in SLE, including 4 domestic studies.
psoriasis
A 47-year-old man was diagnosed with psoriasis in 1995. He underwent a variety of treatments (including herbal treatments, skin laser treatments, and medications) for 25 years, but his condition did not improve significantly.
Prior to the treatment, the patient had inflammation of the fingers, backs of the hands, wrists and both ears, erythema was widely distributed on both hands, all fingers and both wrists, and erythema was also found on the inner side of the auricle and the lower part of the earlobe, while he complained of severe itching.
As a result, he received three umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell interventions in 2 weeks.
In the first intervention, he did intravenous and local stem cell supplementation. After that, the patient received a second and third supplementation at intervals of one week, and then only topical supplementation was made, and no intravenous supplementation was given.
Postoperatively, the patient's PASI (Psoriasis Lesion Area and Severity Index) score decreased from 9.9 to 1.7 and the DLQI score (Dermatology Quality of Life Index) decreased from 27 to 3.
On the 7th day after the first intervention, the patient experienced a slight reduction in erythema on the hands, a reduction in itching, and an increase in exfoliation. After the first intervention, the erythema gradually disappeared, and all erythema almost disappeared on the 122nd day after transplantation.
Subsequently, no erythema was observed on either hand, any finger or any wrist, and a significant reduction in erythema in the ear was also confirmed. Eventually, the patient was cured.
In conclusion, mesenchymal stem cells have significant significance in the intervention of various autoimmune diseases due to their beneficial properties such as safe and easy availability, high proliferative ability, pluripotent differentiation ability, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. It is believed that in the near future, stem cell technology can help more friends who are troubled by autoimmune diseases.