Zhu Mengmei, Hua Tianzhen, Ouyang Tao, Qian Huofu, Yu Bing
Department of Cell Biology, Center for Stem Cell and Medicine, Naval Medical University (Second Military Medical University), Shanghai 200433, China.
Department of Gastroenterology, The Second People's Hospital of Taizhou, China.
Stem Cells Int. 2021 Aug 10;2021:6546780. doi: 10.1155/2021/6546780. eCollection 2021.
Liver fibrosis is a common result of most chronic liver diseases, and advanced fibrosis often leads to cirrhosis. Currently, there is no effective treatment for liver cirrhosis except liver transplantation. Therefore, it is important to carry out antifibrosis treatment to reverse liver damage in the early stage of liver fibrosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the most widely used stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine. The preclinical and clinical research results of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis show that MSC administration is a promising treatment for liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. MSCs reverse liver fibrosis and increase liver function mainly through differentiation into hepatocytes, immune regulation, secretion of cytokines and other nutritional factors, reduction of hepatocyte apoptosis, and promotion of hepatocyte regeneration. Recently, many studies provided a variety of new methods and strategies to improve the effect of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis. In this review, we summarized the current effective methods and strategies and their potential mechanisms of MSCs in the treatment of liver fibrosis, as well as the current research progress in clinical practice. We expect to achieve complete reversal of liver injury with MSC-based therapy in the future.
肝纤维化是大多数慢性肝病的常见后果，而晚期纤维化常导致肝硬化。目前，除肝移植外，尚无治疗肝硬化的有效方法。因此，在肝纤维化早期开展抗纤维化治疗以逆转肝损伤具有重要意义。间充质干细胞（MSCs）是再生医学领域应用最广泛的干细胞。MSCs治疗肝纤维化和肝硬化的临床前及临床研究结果表明，输注MSCs是一种有前景的肝纤维化和肝硬化治疗方法。MSCs主要通过分化为肝细胞、免疫调节、分泌细胞因子及其他营养因子、减少肝细胞凋亡和促进肝细胞再生来逆转肝纤维化并改善肝功能。近年来，许多研究提供了多种新方法和策略来提高MSCs治疗肝纤维化的效果。在本综述中，我们总结了目前MSCs治疗肝纤维化的有效方法和策略及其潜在机制，以及当前临床实践中的研究进展。我们期望未来基于MSCs的治疗能够实现肝损伤的完全逆转。
