Efficacy and Safety of MSC Cell Therapies for Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

MSC (a.k.a. mesenchymal stem cell or medicinal signaling cell) cell therapies show promise in decreasing mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and suggest benefits in treatment of COVID-19-related ARDS. We performed a meta-analysis of published trials assessing the efficacy and adverse events (AE) rates of MSC cell therapy in individuals hospitalized for COVID-19. Systematic searches were performed in multiple databases through November 3, 2021. Reports in all languages, including randomized clinical trials (RCTs), non-randomized interventional trials, and uncontrolled trials, were included. Random effects model was used to pool outcomes from RCTs and non-randomized interventional trials. Outcome measures included all-cause mortality, serious adverse events (SAEs), AEs, pulmonary function, laboratory, and imaging findings. A total of 736 patients were identified from 34 studies, which included 5 RCTs (n = 235), 7 non-randomized interventional trials (n = 370), and 22 uncontrolled comparative trials (n = 131). Patients aged on average 59.4 years and 32.2% were women. When compared with the control group, MSC cell therapy was associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality (RR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.35-0.85, I  2 = 0.0%), reduction in SAEs (IRR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.14-0.90, I  2 = 0.0%) and no significant difference in AE rate. A sub-group with pulmonary function studies suggested improvement in patients receiving MSC. These findings support the potential for MSC cell therapy to decrease all-cause mortality, reduce SAEs, and improve pulmonary function compared with conventional care. Large-scale double-blinded, well-powered RCTs should be conducted to further explore these results.

• Authors: Wenchun Qu, Zhen Wang, Erica Engelberg-Cook, Dan Yan, Abu Bakar Siddik, Guojun Bu, Julie G Allickson, Eva Kubrova, Arnold I Caplan, Joshua M Hare, Camillo Ricordi, Carl J Pepine, Joanne Kurtzberg, Jorge M Pascual, Jorge M Mallea, Ricardo L Rodriguez, Tarek Nayfeh, Samer Saadi, Ravindra V Durvasula, Elaine M Richards, Keith March, Fred P Sanfilippo
• Journal: Stem cells translational medicine (Stem Cells Transl Med) Vol. 11 Issue 7 Pg. 688-703 (07 20 2022) ISSN: 2157-6580 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 35640138 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Systematic Review)
• Copyright: Published by Oxford University Press 2022.

Topics

• Aged
• COVID-19 (therapy)
• Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Respiratory Distress Syndrome (therapy)