Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 7, 2016; 22(41): 9057-9068
Published online Nov 7, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i41.9057
Mesenchymal stromal cell-based therapy: Regulatory and translational aspects in gastroenterology
Giovanni Dothel, Emanuel Raschi, Roberto Rimondini, Fabrizio De Ponti
Giovanni Dothel, Emanuel Raschi, Roberto Rimondini, Fabrizio De Ponti, Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Author contributions: Dothel G, Raschi E and De Ponti F conceived the paper; Dothel G and Raschi E wrote the paper; Rimondini R reviewed the experimental information; De Ponti F reviewed the entire paper; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Fabrizio De Ponti, MD, PhD, Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Via Irnerio, 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy. fabrizio.deponti@unibo.it
Telephone: +39-51-2091805 Fax: +39-51-2091780
Received: August 1, 2016
Peer-review started: August 3, 2016
First decision: August 22, 2016
Revised: September 9, 2016
Accepted: October 19, 2016
Article in press: October 19, 2016
Published online: November 7, 2016
Processing time: 96 Days and 16.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) release immunomodulatory mediators upon inflammatory stimuli. This behavior is attractive for the development of advanced therapeutic strategies applied to several intestinal disorders where inflammation is a key pathophysiological feature. In order to assess quality, efficacy and safety of MSC-based therapy, a novel approach to pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) is mandatory. This must rely on careful assessment of cell phenotype, signaling and homing mechanisms. In this regard, experimental models must take advantage of the most updated knowledge in order to reflect the PK/PD mechanisms in humans. Finally, an alternative approach to the “whole-cell treatment” applies MSC-derived mediators alone in order to avoid the hypothesized serious adverse events deriving from a biological entity mostly acting systemically.