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INFUSION OF MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS: A PROMISING TREATMENT FOR SEVERE COVID-19

Ariene Murari Soares de Pinho1,3, Renata de Castro Gonçalves2,3, Joyce de Cassia Rosa de Jesus1,3, Marcia Fabia Andrade Santos3, Gabriela Salim de Castro3, Jose Pinhata Otoch1,2, Marilia Seelaender1,2,3

Over 8 million people around the world, to the present date, were reported to have the disease provoked by SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, COVID-19 (1). This virus belongs to the same genus as SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, Betacoronaviruses that have triggered previous epidemic outbreaks, causing respiratory infections. The most commonly reported symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and diarrhoea. Age has been identified as a major risk factor, as well as comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension, disregard of age group (2). The initial mechanism of infection occurs through the binding of the virus spike protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is present on the surface of several cell types, especially of epithelial cells (3). A subgroup of COVID-19 patients develops the cytokine storm syndrome (4), which is associated with increased tissue and plasma content of cytokines, including interleukin (IL) -1, IL-10, IL-13, IL-17, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 α, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) -α. In the lungs, this results in alveolar oedema, oxygenation impairment and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which may be lethal (3,5). So far, despite all efforts, there is no stablished drug therapy capable of totally reverting the symptoms of COVID-19 (4).