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Background: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against nuclear genes, deposition of immune complexes, and autoimmune T cells, through which, tissue damage would ultimately occur. Furthermore, loss of immune tolerance and imbalance of Th1/Th2 cells in addition to Th17/Treg are contributed to the pathogenesis of SLE. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) infusion is a potential therapy for SLE disease. Despite a majority of SLE patients achieving clinical remission after allogeneic MSC infusion from healthy individuals, SLE patients have less benefited from autologous MSC infusion, justifying the probable compromised function of SLE patients-derived MSCs. In this study, we aim to further investigate the potential immunoregulatory mechanisms in which mesenchymal stromal cells derived from pristane-induced lupus mice, following injection into healthy and lupus mice, exert their possible effects on the lupus process., Method: 40 female Balb/c mice aged 3 weeks were purchased and randomly divided into six groups. First, lupus disease was induced into the lupus groups by intraperitoneal injection of pristane and then the mice were surveyed for 6 months. The body weight, anti-dsDNA autoantibody levels, serum creatinine, and Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) levels were measured in two-month intervals. After 6 months, the group of lupus mice was sacrificed, and lupus MSCs were isolated. Two months later, cultured lupus MSCs were intravenously injected into two groups of healthy and lupus mice. After two months, the mice were euthanized and the kidneys of each group were examined histologically by hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) staining and the immunofluorescence method was also performed to evaluate IgG and C3 deposition. The frequency of splenic Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells was measured by flow cytometry. Moreover, the cytokine levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-17, and TGF-β in sera were measured by ELISA method., Results: Our results showed that the induction of lupus disease by pristane in Balb/c mice caused the formation of lipogranuloma, increased levels of anti-dsDNA autoantibodies, and impaired renal function in all pristane-induced lupus groups. In addition, the injection of lupus mesenchymal stromal cells (L-MSC) into healthy and lupus mice led to a further rise in anti-dsDNA serum levels, IgG and C3 deposition, and further dysfunction of mice renal tissue. Also, the flow cytometry results implicated that compared to the control groups, splenic Th1, Th2, and Th17 inflammatory cell subtypes and their secreted cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-17) in the sera of healthy and lupus mice were increased after the intake of L-MSC. Additionally, the splenic Treg cells were also significantly increased in the lupus mice receiving L-MSC. However, a decrease in serum levels of TGF-β cytokine was observed in healthy and lupus mice following L-MSC injection. In contrast, the lupus mice receiving healthy mesenchymal stem cells (H-MSC) manifested opposite results., Conclusion: In a nutshell, our results suggest that although allogeneic MSCs are encouraging candidates for SLE treatment, syngeneic MSCs may not be eligible for treating SLE patients due to their defects in regulating the immune system in addition to their capability in promoting inflammation which would consequently worsen the SLE disease status., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Cervical cancer, the most common reproductive system cancer being women, is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treating various diseases is being studied, but their use in cervical cancer has not been well explored. In this study we study investigated the effect of adipose tissue-derived MSCs on the apoptosis and proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in co-culture with the HeLa cell line. MSCs were isolated from adipose tissue and then co-cultured with PBMCs, and HeLa cells at different time points (24, 48, and 72 hours). Materials and Methods: The effect of MSC cells on proliferation, apoptosis, and gene expression of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), interleukin (IL)-4, IL-2, and interferon-γ in PBMCs cultured together with HeLa cells was investigated using flow cytometry and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Results: Flow cytometry showed that co-culture of PBMCs/MSCs/HeLa significantly increased the proliferation of PBMCs at different time points, with a p-value of 0.0022. In addition, MSCs significantly decreased apoptosis of PBMCs in co-culture with HeLa at 48 h. the p-value was 0.0022. Real-time PCR showed that the expression of TGF-β in PBMCs/MSCs/HeLa co-culture increased after 24 h, with a p-value of 0.006. Conclusion: These data showed that adipose-derived MSCs can stimulate the proliferation and survival of PBMCs and enhance the apoptosis of HeLa cells, indicating their potential as immunomodulatory therapy for cervical cancer cells. However, further research is required to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and optimize therapeutic approaches involving PBMCs and MSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curcuminoids are dietary complexes extracted from the seeds of Curcuma longa L. that contain curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin and desmethoxycurcumin. Curcuminoids are popular for their pleiotropic therapeutic functions, such as their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. Nonetheless, their clinical use is associated with poor systemic bioavailability and insolubility. The nano-formulation of curcuminoids eliminates these shortcomings. In the present study, we explored immunoregulatory, proliferative and anti-oxidant effects of nanocurcuminoids on adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs). Flow cytometry analysis and MTT assay were employed to explore the effects of nanocurcuminoids on the apoptosis and proliferation of adipose-derived MSCs (ATMSCs). The anti-oxidant effect of nanocurcuminoids on AT-MSCs also was examined. The immune regulatory effect of nanocurcuminoids was evaluated by the flow cytometric measurement of the T regulatory (Treg) population. The expression of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines was quantified using real-time PCR. Our findings demonstrate that low concentrations of nanocurcuminoids are beneficial for MSC proliferation, protection of MSCs from apoptosis, reducing inflammatory cytokines and SOD activity. A high concentration of nanocurcuminoids increases the population of Tregs and elevates the expression of TGFβ and FOXP3 genes. The beneficial effects of nanocurcuminoids on AT-MSCs were mainly observed at low doses of nanocurcuminoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]