Bronchopulmonary dysplasia is a chronic lung disease that affects mainly very premature babies. Currently, there is no effective treatment for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Since preclinical studies have shown the promise of using cell therapy in the treatment of this disease the clinical studies testing this method started.
In 2024, the results of the 2nd phase of the clinical study by Maria Jesús del Cerro Marín et al. were published, in which 10 children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia who were on artificial ventilation were given intravenous infusions of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. The average age of the patients was 25.2 ± 0.8 weeks, and the birth weight was 659.8 ± 153.8. All children received 3 infusions of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells. Patients were followed up for 2 years.
No side effects of cell therapy were noted. To date, the authors of the study report the safety of this method of treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. In children who were treated with umbilical cord stem cells, a decrease in the level of the inflammatory marker IL-6 and a decrease in the ratio between IL-6 and IL-10 were also noted, along with an improvement according to the respiratory status assessment scale.
