Wharton's Jelly-Mesenchymal Stem Cells Treatment for Severe Covid 19 Patients: 1-Year Follow-Up Publisher



Saleh M¹ ; Vaezi AA² ; Sohrabpour AA³ ; Barkhordar M⁴ ; Aghaghazvini L⁵ ; Alijani N⁶ ; Verdi J¹
Source: Gene Reports Published:2022

Abstract

Background: Recently, attention has been focused on mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) because of their unique ability to suppress inflammation induced by cytokine storms caused by COVID-19. Several patients have been successfully treated in this manner. After one year of treatment with Wharton's jelly-derived MSC injections, this study evaluated the safety and efficacy of injecting MSCs intravenously in patients with COVID-19. Methods: This study treated four patients with severe COVID-19 with Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells. In this study, patients were followed up for routine tests, tumor markers, and whole-body imaging (spiral neck CT scan (with contrast), spiral chest CT scan (with & without contrast), and spiral abdominopelvic CT scan (with IV & Oral contrast)) one year after cell therapy. Results: The results indicated that lymphocyte; lymph count significantly increased, and neutrophil, ESR, ferritin, and CRP significantly decreased. LDH showed a non-significant decrease (P-value<0.05). One year after the WJ-MSC injection, the tumor markers were normal, and no tumors were observed in patients after one year. Also, the CT scan result was normal. Conclusions: In patients, no serious complications were observed after a one-year follow-up. After monitoring the patient via laboratory tests, tumor markers, and whole-body imaging, we concluded that the Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells did not cause severe complications, including tumor formation, in severe COVID19 patients within a year. More clinical trials with higher sample sizes need to be performed on cell therapy with Wharton jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells in the future. © 2022