Role of Stem Cells in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Pulmonary Emphysema.
Irene CoppolinoPaolo RuggeriFrancesco NuceraMario Francesco CannavòIssssswan M AdcockGiuseppe GirbinoGaetano CaramoriPublished in: COPD (2018)
There are only few human translational studies performed in the area of stem cell research in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and/or pulmonary emphysema. Before progress to clinical trials with stem cells we strongly believe that more human translational studies are essential, otherwise, the clinical rationale would be solely based on limited in vitro and animal studies. In the future, stem cell therapy could be a treatment for this incurable disease. As of now, stem cell therapy is still to be considered as an area of active research, lacking any strong rationale for performing clinical trials in COPD. Although stem cells would be likely to represent a heterogeneous population of cells, the different cell subsets and their importance in the pathogenesis of the different clinical phenotypes need to be fully characterised before progressing to clinical trials. Moreover, the potential side effects of stem cell therapy are underestimated. We should not ignore that some of the most deadly neoplasms are arising from stem cells.
Keyphrases
- cell therapy
- stem cells
- clinical trial
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- lung function
- endothelial cells
- case control
- pulmonary hypertension
- phase ii
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- induced apoptosis
- pluripotent stem cells
- open label
- phase iii
- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- study protocol
- cystic fibrosis
- cell cycle arrest
- double blind
- randomized controlled trial
- cell proliferation
- signaling pathway
- peripheral blood
- single cell
- climate change
- pulmonary fibrosis
- human health
- placebo controlled