Wang Jiayi, Zou Wei, Liu Jing
Stem Cell Clinical Research Institute, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116000, Liaoning, China.
Dalian Stem Cell and Precision Medicine Innovation Institute, Dalian 116000, Liaoning, China.
Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao. 2020 Oct 25;36(10):1970-1978. doi: 10.13345/j.cjb.200216.
At present, SARS-CoV-2 is raging, and novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) has caused more than 35 million confirmed patients and more than 500 000 cases death, which seriously endanger human health, socioeconomic development, as well as global medical and public health systems. COVID-19 is highly contagious, has a long incubation period, and causes many death cases due to lack of effective specific treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells have powerful anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory functions, and can effectively reduce the cytokine storm caused by coronavirus in patients, and improve the pulmonary fibrosis of patients, promote the repair of damaged lung tissue, and reduce the mortality. Currently, a number of related clinical trials of mesenchymal stem cell treatment of COVID-19 have been conducted, and have confirmed the safety and efficacy, suggesting a good clinical application prospect. While progress has been made in mesenchymal stem cell therapy for COVID-19, we should also catch sight of the problems and challenges faced by mesenchymal stem cell clinical trials under severe epidemic situation, including clinical trials design, stem cell quality management, and ethics in treatment. Only by paying attention to these can we guarantee the safe and effective development of mesenchymal stem cell clinical trials in the treatment of COVID-19.
目前，新型冠状病毒肆虐，新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）已导致超过3500万确诊患者和超过50万例死亡病例，严重危及人类健康、社会经济发展以及全球医疗和公共卫生系统。COVID-19具有高度传染性，潜伏期长，且由于缺乏有效的特异性治疗导致众多死亡病例。间充质干细胞具有强大的抗炎和免疫调节功能，能够有效减轻患者体内冠状病毒引发的细胞因子风暴，改善患者的肺纤维化，促进受损肺组织的修复，并降低死亡率。目前，已经开展了多项间充质干细胞治疗COVID-19的相关临床试验，并证实了其安全性和有效性，显示出良好的临床应用前景。虽然间充质干细胞治疗COVID-19已取得进展，但我们也应看到在严峻疫情下间充质干细胞临床试验面临的问题与挑战，包括临床试验设计、干细胞质量管理以及治疗中的伦理问题。只有关注这些，才能保障间充质干细胞治疗COVID-19临床试验的安全有效开展。
