According to a study published in STEM CELLS Translational Medicine, unmodified stem cells may one day be used to prevent a type of osteoporosis caused by glucocorticoid therapy. Osteoporosis is among the most significant side effects of glucocorticoid therapy, which is used for the management of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
A previous study showed the effectiveness of gene-modified mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to relieve glucocorticoid therapy-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). This led researchers at the Fourth Military Medical University in Shaanxi, China, to wonder whether unmodified MSCs might also be a therapy for GIOP.
MSCs, adult stem cells traditionally found in the bone marrow, are attractive to researchers because they can be coaxed into differentiating into a variety of cell types.
“We hypothesized that it might prevent the reduction of bone mass and strength in GIOP through maintaining bone formation by inhabiting and functioning in recipient bone marrow,” says the study’s lead investigator, Yan Jin, M.D., Ph.D., of the university’s Center for Tissue Engineering.
During the study, allogeneic (donor) bone marrow-derived MSCs were isolated, identified and systemically infused into mice that had been given an excessive dose of a glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) to induce GIOP. The results showed that these MSC infusions prevented the reduction of bone mass and strength in the mice.
“Although preliminary, this study provides some promising data for the therapeutic potential of allogeneic MSCs in glucocorticoid therapy-induced osteoporosis,” said Anthony Atala, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
