|
Based on the results of studies with the tissues of two out of three patients, investigators have provided the first evidence of chimerism in the human lung after human stem cell transplantation, according to an article in the Aug. 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Benjamin T. Suratt, MD, of the division of pulmonary sciences and critical care medicine, University of Vermont Health Sciences Research Facility, Burlington, along with seven associates, found significant rates of epithelial (2.5 percent to 8 percent) and endothelial (37.5 percent to 42.3 percent) chimerism in lung tissue samples from two of three patients who had undergone either lung biopsy or autopsy.
"Many of the body's tissues once thought to be only locally regenerative may, in fact, be actively replaced by circulating stem cells after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation," Dr. Suratt said.
He noted that localization of donor-derived cells or chimerism recently had been shown to occur in the cells of mice after either hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or infusion of cultured marrow.
Dr. Suratt said that his team's results suggest that significant chimerism of the human lung may follow hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and that adult human stem cells potentially could play a therapeutic role in treatment of the damaged lung.
|