The Affiliated Changsha Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, China.
National Engineering Research Center of Human Stem cell, Changsha, China.
J Med Virol. 2024 Jun;96(6):e29757. doi: 10.1002/jmv.29757.
No effective treatments can ameliorate symptoms of long COVID patients. Our study assessed the safety and efficacy of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) in the treatment of long COVID patients. Ten long COVID patients were enrolled and received intravenous infusions of UC-MSCs on Days 0, 7, and 14. Adverse events and clinical symptoms were recorded, and chest-high-resolution CT (HRCT) images and laboratory parameters were analyzed. During UC-MSCs treatment and follow-up, we did not observe serious adverse events, the symptoms of long COVID patients were significantly relieved in a short time, especially sleep difficulty, depression or anxiety, memory issues, and so forth, and the lung lesions were also repaired. The routine laboratory parameters did not exhibit any significant abnormalities following UC-MSCs transplantation (UMSCT). The proportion of regulatory T cells gradually increased, but it was not statistically significant until 12 months. The proportion of naive B cells was elevated, while memory B cells, class-switched B-cells, and nonswitched B-cells decreased at 1 month after infusion. Additionally, we observed a transient elevation in circulating interleukin (IL)-6 after UMSCT, while tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-17A, and IL-10 showed no significant changes. The levels of circulating immunoglobulin (Ig) M increased significantly at month 2, while IgA increased significantly at month 6. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels remained consistently high in all patients at Month 6, and there was no significant decrease during the subsequent 12-month follow-up. UMSCT was safe and tolerable in long COVID patients. It showed potential in alleviating long COVID symptoms and improving interstitial lung lesions.
目前尚无有效的治疗方法可以改善长新冠患者的症状。本研究评估了人脐带间充质干细胞（UC-MSCs）治疗长新冠患者的安全性和有效性。纳入 10 例长新冠患者，分别于第 0、7 和 14 天接受 UC-MSCs 静脉输注。记录不良事件和临床症状，分析胸部高分辨率 CT（HRCT）图像和实验室参数。在 UC-MSCs 治疗和随访期间，我们未观察到严重不良事件，长新冠患者的症状在短时间内明显缓解，特别是睡眠困难、抑郁或焦虑、记忆力问题等，肺部病变也得到修复。UC-MSCs 移植后常规实验室参数无明显异常。调节性 T 细胞比例逐渐升高，但 12 个月时无统计学意义。幼稚 B 细胞升高，记忆 B 细胞、类别转换 B 细胞和未转换 B 细胞在输注后 1 个月下降。此外，我们观察到 UMSCT 后循环白细胞介素（IL）-6 一过性升高，而肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α、IL-17A 和 IL-10 无明显变化。循环免疫球蛋白（Ig）M 在第 2 个月显著升高，IgA 在第 6 个月显著升高。此外，所有患者在第 6 个月 SARS-CoV-2 IgG 水平持续升高，随后 12 个月随访期间无明显下降。UMSCT 治疗长新冠患者安全耐受，具有缓解长新冠症状和改善间质性肺病变的潜力。
