Stem Cells May Help In Treatment of Tuberculosis, But Challenges Remain: Study

Mesenchymal Stem cells (MSCs) are said to have antimicrobial, immunosuppressive, and immunomodulatory properties that make them helpful in clinical and therapeutic applications. These cells are considered to be a boon in the treatment of autoimmune disorders and regenerative medicine. MSCs are confirmed to be present in bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, dental pulp, and the adipose tissue can be isolated for treatment. Notably, the utilisation of MSCs has shown remarkable progress in the treatment of infections like tuberculosis, the disease that affects nearly one-third of the global population and has become a major public health concern.

Here’s everything you need to know about the potential role of MSCs in tuberculosis treatment and clinical challenges.

Clinical challenges

A study published in the National Library of Medicine, titled ‘Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Tuberculosis: Clinical Challenges and Opportunities’ indicates that more success has been achieved in pre-clinical trials. The use of MSCs in animal models has shown higher progress than in human models. Their clinical application in treatment still faces real complications that need to be resolved using more studies. “We believe that with further in-depth research on the relationship between MSCs and TB, it will surely bring good news to TB patients worldwide,” reveals the study.

Potential scope and application

It is noted that MSCs can achieve the purpose of treating TB by managing the inflammatory response of the disease, but this will alleviate the lung injury affecting the host’s survival and the clearance of the bacteria. However, the research also suggests that MSCs can regulate direct interaction between the innate immune cells and adaptive immune cells of the body. This intercellular communication is possible due to the extracellular vesicles (EVs) present in MSCs. The EVs can be potentially used as antigens to bind together the targeted cells, which can deliver necessary proteins, non-coding RNA, and mRNA.

Despite a strong immune system in humans, TB organisms are capable of staying in their dormant form and keep persisting for a longer period. MSCs can potentially play an important role to evade the patent host’s immune responses. Hence, the usage of these cells seems to be a plausible therapeutic intervention for developing new strategies against TB.

MSCs-based clinical application and possible outcomes as per the study:

1. MSCs can reduce the severity of bacterial pneumonia, reduce the bacterial load in the lungs and inhibit inflammation, and reduce lung injury.
2. After MSCs infusion, there are fewer inflammatory cells in the lung interstitium and collagen fibres. The deposition in lung tissue is reduced and the degree of pulmonary fibrosis is reduced.
3. MSCs infusion can effectively reduce the inflammatory response, hinder the development of fibrosis in the lesion site, and does improve the prognosis of TB patients to a large extent.
4. The safety and effectiveness of the potential outcomes need to be confirmed using more research.

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