Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Jun 3;11(1):214.
doi: 10.1186/s13287-020-01730-7.

Efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for sepsis: a meta-analysis of preclinical studies

Xue-Yi Sun  1 , Xian-Fei Ding  1 , Huo-Yan Liang  1 , Xiao-Juan Zhang  1 , Shao-Hua Liu  1 , Bing-Han  1 , Xiao-Guang Duan  1 , Tong-Wen Sun  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for sepsis: a meta-analysis of preclinical studies

Xue-Yi Sun et al. Stem Cell Res Ther. .

Abstract

Background: Multiple studies have reported that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy has beneficial effects in experimental models of sepsis. However, this finding remains inconclusive. This study was performed to systematically determine the connection between MSC therapy and mortality in sepsis animal models by pooling and analyzing data from newly published studies.

Methods: A detailed search of related studies from 2009 to 2019 was conducted in four databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. After browsing and filtering out articles that met the inclusion criteria for statistical analysis, the inverse variance method of the fixed effects model was used to calculate the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: Twenty-nine animal studies, including 1266 animals, were identified. None of the studies was judged to have a low risk of bias. The meta-analysis demonstrated that MSC therapy was related to a significantly lower mortality rate (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.22-0.38, P < 0.001). Subgroup analyses performed based on the MSC injection dose (< 1.0 × 106 cells, OR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.20-0.56, P < 0.001; 1.0 × 106 cells, OR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.16-0.35, P < 0.001) and injection time (< 1 h, OR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.13-0.45, P < 0.001; 1 h, OR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.17-0.46, P < 0.001) demonstrated that treatment with MSCs significantly reduced the mortality rate of animals with sepsis.

Conclusion: This up-to-date meta-analysis showed a connection between MSC therapy and lower mortality in sepsis animal models, supporting the potential therapeutic effect of MSC treatment in future clinical trials. The results in this study contradict a previous meta-analysis with regards to the ideal dose of MSC therapy. Thus, further research is required to support these findings.

Keywords: Mesenchymal stem cell therapy; Meta-analysis; Preclinical studies; Sepsis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the study selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot summarizing the effects of mesenchymal stem cell therapy on the mortality of preclinical models of sepsis and endotoxemia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, Shankar-Hari M, Annane D, Bauer M, Bellomo R, Bernard GR, Chiche JD, Coopersmith CM, Hotchkiss RS, Levy MM, Marshall JC, Martin GS, Opal SM, Rubenfeld GD, van der Poll T, Vincent JL, Angus DC. The third international consensus definitions for sepsis and septic shock (Sepsis-3) Jama. 2016;315:801–810. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kaukonen KM, Bailey M, Suzuki S, Pilcher D, Bellomo R. Mortality related to severe sepsis and septic shock among critically ill patients in Australia and New Zealand, 2000-2012. Jama. 2014;311:1308–1316. - PubMed
    1. Liu V, Escobar GJ, Greene JD, Soule J, Whippy A, Angus DC, Iwashyna TJ. Hospital deaths in patients with sepsis from 2 independent cohorts. Jama. 2014;312:90–92. - PubMed
    1. Fleischmann C, Scherag A, Adhikari NKJ, Hartog CS, Tsaganos T, Schlattmann P, Angus DC, Reinhart K. Assessment of global incidence and mortality of hospital-treated sepsis. Current estimates and limitations. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2015;193:259–272. - PubMed
    1. Rello J, Valenzuela-Sanchez F, Ruiz-Rodriguez M, Moyano S. Sepsis: a review of advances in management. Adv Ther. 2017;34:2393–2411. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types