Chemical warfare victims suffer from
bronchiolitis and chronic pulmonary obstruction caused by
sulfur mustard (SM) toxicity. Despite the mesenchymal stem cells capacity to alleviate
inflammation, their low survival rate under oxidative stress severely limits their effectiveness. This study aimed to examine how natural (
Crocin) and synthetic (
Dexamethasone)
antioxidants might affect MSC efficacy. MSCs were treated with the optimal doses of
Crocin (Cr.),
Dexamethasone (Dex.), and their combination. The A549 cells line was pretreated with the optimal dose of the
CEES to mimic the
lung disease. Then, the affected A549 cells were exposed to the preconditioned MSCs and
conditioned media, and then their survival rates were estimated by MTTor2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium
bromide (MTT) assay.
Annexin-V PI apoptosis test was conducted for MSCs and A549 cells.
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) assay and
Enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test demonstrated the percentage of production of ROS and the
cytokines levels in A549/
CEES, respectively. The results revealed significant increases in Cr. + Dex. treated MSCs (P < .01) and A549 cells treated with MSCs-CM/Cr/Dex (P < .01) groups' survival. The apoptosis rate and ROS production were reduced in the MSCs-CM/Cr/Dex. Also, considerable decreases in IL-1β (P < .01) and
IL-6 (P < .01) and a significant increase in
IL-10 (P < .05) in treated A549/
CEES by Cr/Dex and MSCs-CM/Cr/Dex supported the synergistic effects of
Crocin and
Dexamethasone.