Mesenchymal stem cells-based therapies for severe ARDS with ECMO: a review

TL;DR

This review explores combining mesenchymal stem cells with ECMO to treat severe ARDS, highlighting its potential and challenges.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current state and challenges of combining MSCs with ECMO for ARDS treatment.

Findings

MSC-based therapy shows potential as a treatment for refractory ARDS.

Combining MSCs with ECMO may improve therapeutic outcomes for ARDS patients.

Critical issues remain before this combination can be widely used in clinical practice.

Abstract

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the primary cause of respiratory failure in critically ill patients. Despite remarkable therapeutic advances in recent years, ARDS remains a life-threatening clinical complication with high morbidity and mortality, especially during the global spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Previous studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy is a potential alternative strategy for the treatment of refractory respiratory diseases including ARDS, while extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as the last resort treatment to sustain life can help improve the survival of ARDS patients. In recent years, several studies have explored the effects of ECMO combined with MSC-based therapies in the treatment of ARDS, and some of them have demonstrated that this combination can provide better therapeutic effects, while others have argued that some critical issues need to be solved before it can be applied to clinical practice. This review presents an overview of the current status, clinical challenges and future prospects of ECMO combined with MSCs in the treatment of ARDS.

Figures