Survival of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Doubled by Birth Cord Stem Cell Treatment

Critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with unmodified cord connective tissue stem cells were more than twice as likely to survive as those who did not receive the treatment, according to a study published today (June 8, 2021) in STEM CELLS Translational medicine.

The clinical trial, conducted at four hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, also showed that administering the treatment to COVID-19 patients with an added chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension or kidney disease more than quadrupled their survival.

All 40 patients enrolled in the double-blind, controlled, randomized study were adults in intensive care who had been intubated for COVID-19-induced pneumonia. Half received intravenous infusions containing umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells, or stem cells derived from the connective tissue of a human birth cord, and the other half received infusions without them.

The survival rate of those who received the stem cells was 2.5 times higher and climbed even more — 4.5 times — among the COVID-19 patients who had other chronic health conditions, said Ismail Hadisoebroto Dilogo, a professor of medicine at Cipto Mangunkusumo Central Hospital. -Universitas Indonesia and member of the research team.

Ismail Hadisoebroto Dilogo, professor of medicine at Cipto Mangunkusumo Central Hospital-Universitas Indonesia, corresponding author of the study. Credit: AlphaMed Press

The stem cell infusion also appeared to be safe and well tolerated with no life-threatening complications or acute allergic reactions in seven days of post-infusion monitoring, he said.

Previous clinical trials have shown that treating COVID-19 pneumonia patients with cord connective tissue stem cells can help them survive and recover faster, but the Indonesian study is the first to treat intubated, critically ill COVID-19 pneumonia patients with a naive , or non-genetically engineered, form of the stem cells.

“Unlike other studies, our trial used stem cells obtained through explants of real umbilical cord tissue and we did not manipulate them to exclude ACE2, a cellular protein believed to be an entry point for COVID-19,” said Dilogo. .

Some research suggests that one of the leading causes of acute respiratory distress in COVID-19 patients is the “cytokine storm,” a condition in which infection triggers the body’s immune system to flood the bloodstream with inflammatory proteins.

“The exact cause of the cytokine storm is still unknown, but our study indicates that the presence of unengineered umbilical cord stromal stem cells improves patient survival by modulating the immune system to an anti-inflammatory immune state,” Dilogo said.

Since there is no cure for COVID-19, supportive care is the only available help for patients who are seriously ill with the virus.

“Although our study focused on a small number of patients, we believe this experimental treatment could potentially lead to effective adjuvant therapy for COVID-19 patients in intensive care who are unresponsive to conventional supportive treatment,” he said.

Dilogo’s research team launched the clinical trial last year after the COVID-19 occupancy rate in Jakarta’s intensive care units rose to 80 percent and the death rate of critically ill COVID-19 pneumonia patients in ICUs reached 87 percent.

“This study, which assessed the potential therapeutic effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells on critically ill COVID-19 patients, shows promising results that could represent a potential treatment to increase survival,” said Anthony Atala, MD, editor. chief of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine and director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. “Having additional potential therapies, such as MSCs, could be very beneficial for these patients.”

Reference: “Umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells as critical COVID-19 adjuvant therapy: a randomized controlled trial” June 8, 2021, STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.
DOI: 10.1002 / sctm.21-0046