Asthma and stem cell therapy

Figure 2 Experimental and clinical investigations into mesenchymal stem cell-mediated mechanisms of asthma causation. The figure was drawn by Figdraw. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) reduce the production of various inflammatory factors, promote the production and release of anti-inflammatory factors, suppress the inflammatory response, restore the T helper type 1/2 balance, and repair damaged epithelial cells, while modulating the immune response through direct cell-to-cell contact. The paracrine action of MSCs is attributed to the release of exosomes containing biologically active substances that effectively mimic MSC immunomodulatory effects. After the MSC-mediated asthma mechanism was elucidated, the first clinical report describing the beneficial effects of bone marrow-derived mononuclear cell therapy in a patient with severe asthma was published in 2020. Currently, four clinical trials grounded in animal experiments are in progress, and they are evaluating the therapeutic effects of systemically administered MSCs registered on the clinicaltrials.gov platform.