Laboratory of Translational Medicine Office, Development Center for Biotechnology, Taipei.
Division of Respiratory Therapy, Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei.
Cell Transplant. 2021 Jan-Dec;30:963689721996217. doi: 10.1177/0963689721996217.
COVID-19 has spread worldwide, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy, along with its site of origin in China, since 2020. The virus was first found in the Wuhan seafood market at the end of 2019, with a controversial source. The clinical symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, and respiratory tract inflammation, with some severe patients developing an acute and chronic lung injury, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary fibrosis (PF). It has already claimed approximately 300 thousand human lives and the number is still on the rise; the only way to prevent the infection is to be safe till vaccines and reliable treatments develop. In previous studies, the use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in clinical trials had been proven to be effective in immune modulation and tissue repair promotion; however, their efficacy in treating COVID-19 remains underestimated. Here, we report the findings from past experiences of SARS and MSCs, and how SARS could also induce PF. Such studies may help to understand the rationale for the recent cell-based therapies for COVID-19.
自 2020 年以来，COVID-19 已在全球范围内传播，包括美国、英国和意大利，以及其起源地中国。该病毒于 2019 年底首次在武汉海鲜市场发现，其来源存在争议。COVID-19 的临床症状包括发热、咳嗽和呼吸道炎症，一些重症患者会出现急性和慢性肺损伤，如急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）和肺纤维化（PF）。它已经导致大约 30 万人死亡，而且这个数字还在不断上升；预防感染的唯一方法是在疫苗和可靠的治疗方法开发之前保持安全。在之前的研究中，间充质干细胞（MSCs）在临床试验中的应用已被证明在免疫调节和组织修复促进方面是有效的；然而，它们在治疗 COVID-19 方面的疗效仍被低估。在这里，我们报告了过去 SARS 和 MSCs 的经验发现，以及 SARS 如何也会导致 PF。这些研究可能有助于理解最近针对 COVID-19 的基于细胞的治疗方法的基本原理。
