Amelioration of Clinical Symptoms of Patients with Refractory Rheumatoid Arthritis Following Treatment with Autologous Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Successful Clinical Trial in Iran

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune arthropathy characterized by synovial hyperplasia leading to functional impairment. Although the exact cause of RA is unknown, there is evidence suggesting the role of T cell subtypes in the pathogenesis of RA. Conventional therapy in some RA patients is associated with mild or severe side effects, and resistance of some patients has been reported to these types of therapy. The therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) introduced them as a novel therapeutic choice for the treatment of rheumatic diseases. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of intravenous administration of autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs on the immunological, clinical and para-clinical factors such as regulatory T cells, Th17 cells, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, disease activity score 28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), visual analogue scale (VAS), ESR, C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in patients with refractory RA. Nine refractory RA patients with no other rheumatologic disorders were included in this study. All patients received a single intravenous dose of 1 × 10 autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs/kg, and were followed up at 1, 6 and 12 months after injection of MSCs. We found a significant decreasing trend in Th17 percentage and geometric mean fluorescence intensity for IL-17A following injection of MSCs at 12 months compared to the time point zero. Furthermore, a significant increase in regulatory T cells percentage was observed at the end of the first month after the intervention. DAS28-ESR decreased significantly at 1 and 12 months after MSC therapy. VAS score showed a significant decreasing trend during the follow-up periods. No significant difference was found for serum CRP and anti-CCP levels after the intervention. In conclusion, our data indicated that clinical symptoms were significantly ameliorated following the intravenous injection of autologous bone marrow-derived MSCs to the patients with refractory RA.