Stem cell technology for the treatment of acute and chronic renal failure

Abstract

Acute and chronic renal failure are disorders with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Current treatment is based upon conventional dialysis to provide volume regulation and small solute clearance. There is growing recognition that renal failure is a complex disease state requiring a multifactorial therapy to address the short-comings of the conventional monofactorial approach. Kidney transplantation remains the most effective treatment, however, organ availability lags far behind demand. Many key kidney functions including gluconeogenesis, ammoniagenesis, metabolism of glutathione, catabolism of important peptide hormones, growth factors, and cytokines critical to multiorgan homeostasis and immunomodulation are provided by renal tubule cells. Therefore, cell-based therapies are promising multifactorial treatment approaches. In this review, current stem cell technologies including adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells will be discussed as cell sources for the treatment of acute and chronic renal failure.

Cell-Based Therapy Approaches: The Hope for Incurable Diseases

“…Human MSCs have provided renoprotective effects to SCID mice with acute kidney injury (AKI). Moreover, MSC delivery induced a vasculoprotective effect in early post-AKI rats, similar to the previously established ability of EPCs to improve kidney function by repairing microvascular injury and correcting hemodynamics in AKI animals [148,149]. UC-MSCs, amniotic fluid SCs, menstrual blood SCs and adipose-derived SCs all share characteristics with BM-MSCs and can be exploited toward renal damage repair [150,151].…”

“…But a follow-up Phase IIb study was suspended after an interim analysis that revealed a high survival rate of patients treated with sham RAD without cells. These findings initiated development of two therapeutic approaches: a cell-free approach, called the selective cytopheretic device (SCD), and a new cell-based bioartificial renal epithelial cell system (BRECS) [149,151].…”

Effect of mesenchymal stem cells on anti-Thy1,1 induced kidney injury in albino rats

“…The bone mesenchymal stem cell transplantation group had decreased urinary protein and blood cholesterol contents and increased plasma albumin and had increased nephrin mRNA and protein expression compared with the nephrosis model group. Pino and Humes used the stem cell technology for the treatment of acute and chronic renal failure [10] . The stem cell technologies included adult stem cells, embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells as cell sources for the treatment of acute and chronic renal failure.…”

Repeated Systemic Administration of Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Attenuates Overt Diabetic Nephropathy in Rats

“…Besides the potential for multilineage differentiation, MSCs exert therapeutic effects through complex paracrine and endocrine actions [29]. Several reports showed that bone marrow stem cell transplantation reduces proteinuria and glomerular hypertrophy in diabetic mice and rats [14][15][16][17].…”