Ankylosing spondylitis and mesenchymal stromal/stem cell therapy: a new therapeutic approach

摘要

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory rheumatoid disease categorized within spondyloarthropathies (SpA) and manifested by chronic spinal arthritis. Several innate and adaptive immune cells and secreted-mediators have been indicated to play a role in AS pathogenesis. Considering the limitations of current therapeutic approaches (NSAIDs, glucocorticoids, DMARDs and biologic drugs), finding new treatments with fewer side effects and high therapeutic potentials are required in AS. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with considerable immunomodulatory and regenerative properties could be able to attenuate the inflammatory responses and help tissue repair by cell-to-cell contact and secretion of soluble factors. Moreover, MSCs do not express HLA-DR, which renders them a favorable therapeutic choice for transplantation in immune-mediated disorders.