# Hydrogen sulphide modifies the therapeutic potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in an adjuvant-induced polyarthritis rat model through the mitigation of angiogenesis, ectopic lymphoid tissue formation, and osteoclastogenesis

## TL;DR

This study shows that hydrogen sulphide can enhance the effectiveness of stem cell therapy for rheumatoid arthritis in rats by reducing inflammation and tissue damage.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that NaHS preconditioning improves BM-MSCs' therapeutic potential in RA.

## Key findings

- NaHS preconditioned BM-MSCs significantly reduced inflammation and tissue damage in rats.
- BM-MSCs preconditioned with NaHS outperformed non-preconditioned cells in therapeutic outcomes.
- Conditioned media from NaHS-preconditioned BM-MSCs showed lesser efficacy than the cells themselves.

## Abstract

Among the chronic and progressive autoimmune disorders that primarily affect joints in the hands, wrists, and knees, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a highly prevalent one. A significant number of patients develop severe adverse events, display weak responses, or cannot afford long-term use of the current RA medications, requiring more efficient and safer curative alternatives. increasing evidence recommends the application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based therapy for mitigating chronic inflammation and boosting tissue renewal in intractable disorders. Moreover, sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS) has recently been found to have anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, this study compared the therapeutic outcomes of four approaches; bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), their conditioned media (CM), BM-MSCs pre-conditioned with NaHS, and their conditioned media in a rat model of adjuvant-induced polyarthritis. The process involved the isolation of MSCs from rat bone marrow, propagation, and characterization of the isolated cells. polyarthritis was induced in male Wistar rats via intradermal injection of type II collagen on day 0 and day 21. Affected rats were treated with naproxen, BM-MSCs, BM-MSCs-CM, NaHS, BM-MSCs preconditioned with NaHS, or BM-MSCs preconditioned with NaHS-CM. The results indicated that the administered cells homed to the bone marrow and bone trabeculae of the knee joint tissue of the afflicted rats. The proposed treatments brought about significant down-regulation of peptidyl arginine deiminase 2 (PAD2) and chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13) genes as well as angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) protein expression, along with substantial upregulation of the galectin-1 (GAL-1) gene and osteoprotegerin (OPG) protein expression. Compared with BM-MSCs therapy, the treatment with BM-MSCs preconditioned with NaHS and their CM exhibited superior effect, with values close to those of the controls. In addition, treatment with the CM of BM-MSCs offered a lesser effect compared to BM-MSCs therapy alone. In conclusion, NaHS has the potential to improve the therapeutic capability of BM-MSCs for RA in rats by enhancing their anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and regenerative capacity.