Mesenchymal stem cells provide prophylaxis against acute graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A meta-analysis of animal models

// Li Wang 1, 2, * , Haiyan Zhang 3, * , Lixun Guan 1 , Shasha Zhao 1 , Zhenyang Gu 1 , Huaping Wei 1 , Zhe Gao 1 , Feiyan Wang 1 , Nan Yang 1 , Lan Luo 1 , Yonghui Li 1 , Lili Wang 1 , Daihong Liu 1 , Chunji Gao 1 1 Department of Hematology, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Hospital, Beijing, China 2 Department of Hematology and Oncology, Laoshan Branch, No. 401 Hospital of Chinese PLA, Qingdao, China 3 Department of Hematology, Linyi People’s Hospital, Linyi, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Chunji Gao, email: gaochunji@medmail.com.cn Keywords: mesenchymal stem cells, graft-versus-host disease, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, meta-analysis, animal experimentation Received: April 30, 2016 Accepted: July 28, 2016 Published: August 12, 2016 ABSTRACT A meta-analysis of animal models was conducted to evaluate the prophylactic effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A total of 50 studies involving 1848 animals were included. The pooled results showed that MSCs significantly reduced aGVHD-associated mortality (risk ratio = 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.62 to 0.79, P = 2.73×10 -9 ) and clinical scores (standardized mean difference = -3.60, 95% confidence interval -4.43 to -2.76, P = 3.61×10 -17 ). In addition, MSCs conferred robust favorable prophylactic effects on aGVHD across recipient species, MSC doses, and administration times, but not MSC sources. Our meta-analysis showed that MSCs significantly prevented mortality and alleviated the clinical manifestations of aGVHD in animal models. These data support further clinical trials aimed at evaluating the efficacy of using MSCs to prevent aGVHD.