Mesenchymal Stem Cells Ameliorate Renal Inflammation in Adriamycin-induced Nephropathy

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) ameliorate the renal injury in Adriamycin (ADR)-induced nephropathy, but the mechanisms underlying their efficacy remain incompletely understood. In this study, we demonstrated that MSCs increased the survival, recovered body weight loss, and decreased proteinuria and serum creatinine levels in ADR-treated mice. MSCs also prevented podocyte damage and renal fibrosis by decreasing the expression of fibronectin, collagen 1 alpha 1, and alpha-smooth muscle actin. From a mechanistic perspective, MSCs inhibited renal inflammation by lowering the expression of CCL4, CCL7, CCL19, IFN-alpha/beta, TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, and chitinase 3-like 1. In summary, our data demonstrate that MSCs improve renal functions by inhibiting renal inflammation in ADR-induced nephropathy.