Therapeutic effect of cytomedicine on mesangio-proliferative glomerulonephritis in human interleukin-6 transgenic mice.

We previously demonstrated that IgG1 plasmacytosis in human interleukin-6 transgenic mice (hIL-6 Tgm) was suppressed by the implantation of SK2 hybridoma cells (SK2 cells, which secrete anti-hIL-6 monoclonal antibodies) microencapsulated in a semipermeable and biocompatible device. In this study, we demonstrated that the mesangio-proliferative glomerulonephritis in hIL-6 Tgm was also improved by the same treatment. These results strongly support the concept of cytomedicine, which is a novel drug delivery system (DDS) using living cells. However, an electron microscopy study showed that cytomedicine has a limited duration of effectiveness because of the disappearance of space for cell proliferation in the microcapsule. Thus, the control of cell proliferation in a device must be developed to prolong the function and effectiveness of cytomedicine.