THE OUTCOMES OF BONE MARROW STROMAL CELL THERAPY IN SCHISTOSOMAL HEPATIC FIBROSIS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Egypt.

2 Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt.

3 Department of Histopathology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt.

Abstract

Liver fibrosis is considered a serious health problem. Liver transplantation is almost the only curative treatment. The limited number of donors and the post-operative complications are major obstacles. Recent reports have shown that mesenchymal stem cells could improve chemically- induced hepatic fibrosis. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) transplantation on hepatic fibrosis in Schistosoma mansoniinfected mice. Female mice infected with S. mansoni were divided into three test groups. One group received praziquantel drug orally. Another group received BMSCs, obtained from male mice, by intravenous injection. The last group received both. Two control groups were used, one was infected and untreated and the other was uninfected and untreated. Detection of BMSCs hepatic engraftment, morphometric analysis and histopathological evaluation of liver fragments, were done. Level of interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNA expression was assessed. The results showed that BMSCs engrafted into the liver. There was significant improvement in morphometric and histopathological evaluation of liver fragments, and increase in IL-10 mRNA expression of all treated modalities. Promising result was achieved when BMSCs and PZQ used in treated mice.

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