Logan DuBose

Introduction: Rheumatoid Arthritis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the swelling of joints and destruction of cartilage, synovium, and bone. Current treatments include medications that inhibit inflammatory cytokines such as TNFα, however 50% of patients do not respond adequately to the treatment¹. The need for other therapeutic drug options is imminent. This research attempts to provide an alternative method of combating Rheumatoid Arthritis through treatment with human umbilical cord stem cells (hUBM-MSC). Methods:  Mice with collagen-induced arthritis were administered hUCB-MSC via injection and the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-1 were measured². Mice were also treated with etanercept, which is a current TNFα inhibitor. The presence of TNFα and IL-1 were then correlated with that mice having a reduction in symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. To elucidate the mechanism in which hUBC-MSC reduced levels of TNFα and IL-1, the levels of levels of COX2 were measured and then COX2 was inhibited³. Results: There was sufficient data to demonstrate that hUBC-MSC did in fact lower levels of TNFα and IL-1¹. These lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines led to reductions in the symptoms of arthritis in the collagen induced mouse models. It was show that when COX2 was inhibited in hUBC-MSC that their reducing effects on TNFα and IL-1 were diminished. Discussion:  hUBC-MSC treatment can be an alternative treatment for patients that do not respond well to traditional TNFα inhibitors such as etanercept. It has been shown in collagen-induced mouse models to reduce the levels of TNFα and IL-1 as much as etanercept. The suggested COX2 mediated reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines by hUBC-MSC is viable¹. The next step would be to take this treatment to human model studies.

1. Wang, Liming, et al. “Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell therapy for patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: safety and efficacy.” Stem cells and development 22.24 (2013):3192-3202. Web
2. Shin, Tae-Hoon, et al. “Human umbilical cord blood-stem cells direct macrophage polarization and block inflammasome activation to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis.” Cell Death and Disease 7.12 (2016):e2524-e2524. Web.