Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells as a potential therapy for schistosomal hepatic fibrosis: an experimental study
Dina M. Abou Rayia, Dalia S. Ashour, Hend S. Abo Safia, Muhammad Tarek Abdel Ghafar, Rania S. Amer, Abeer E. Saad
Abstract
cercariae and remained untreated. The mice of the other two groups were infected and treated with either praziquantel (Group II) or HUCB-MSCs (Group III). Liver function tests, as well as histopathological evaluation of liver fibrosis using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome stains, were performed. Additionally, an immunohistochemical study was carried out using anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in hepatic stellate cells. Compared to the control group, the treated (praziquantel and MSCs) groups showed a substantial improvement, with a significant difference regarding the histopathological evaluation of liver fibrosis in the MSCs-treated group. In conclusion, MSCs could be a promising and efficient cell therapy for liver fibrosis.