Journal of Immunology Research
Volume 2015, Article ID 602597, 8 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/602597
Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy in Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
1Division of Nephrology and Transplantation, University of Liège CHU (ULg CHU), 4000 Liège, Belgium
2Laboratory of Cardiovascular Sciences, Groupe Interdisciplinaire de Génoprotéomique Appliquée (GIGA), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
3Division of Abdominal Surgery and Transplantation, University of Liège CHU (ULg CHU), 4000 Liège, Belgium
4Laboratory of Hematology, Groupe Interdisciplinaire de Génoprotéomique Appliquée (GIGA), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
5Laboratory of Cell and Gene Therapy, University of Liège CHU (ULg CHU), 4000 Liège, Belgium
Received 3 April 2015; Accepted 7 June 2015
Academic Editor: Bjarne K. Møller
Copyright © 2015 Pascal Rowart et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) represents a worldwide public health issue of increasing incidence. IRI may virtually affect all organs and tissues and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Particularly, the duration of blood supply deprivation has been recognized as a critical factor in stroke, hemorrhagic shock, or myocardial infarction, as well as in solid organ transplantation (SOT). Pathophysiologically, IRI causes multiple cellular and tissular metabolic and architectural changes. Furthermore, the reperfusion of ischemic tissues induces both local and systemic inflammation. In the particular field of SOT, IRI is an unavoidable event, which conditions both short- and long-term outcomes of graft function and survival. Clinically, the treatment of patients with IRI mostly relies on supportive maneuvers since no specific target-oriented therapy has been validated thus far. In the present review, we summarize the current literature on mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and their potential use as cell therapy in IRI. MSC have demonstrated immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and tissue repair properties in rodent studies and in preliminary clinical trials, which may open novel avenues in the management of IRI and SOT.