Deficient proliferation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in patients with chronic hepatitis B viral infections and cirrhosis of the liver.

In this study, we determined whether the proliferation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is impaired in patients with chronic hepatitis B viral infection and cirrhosis of the liver. MSCs from 15 patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis of the liver (CIR-MSCs) and 11 normal donors (ND-MSCs) were collected and characterized in vitro. CIR-MSCs displayed an intact immunophenotype. The percentage of S-phase nuclei in CIR-MSCs (4.34%), however, was significantly lower than that in ND-MSCs (P < 0.001), indicating impaired proliferation of CIR-MSCs. Growth factor receptor expression (e.g., IGF1, PDGFalpha, and PDGFbeta) on the surface of CIR-MSCs decreased compared to that on ND-MSCs (P < 0.03). We found no evidence that CIR-MSCs were infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Deficient proliferation of CIR-MSCs may result from the decreased expression of growth factor receptors and unbalanced production of cytokines in patients with HBV infection. Our results indicate that autologous MSCs of patients with chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis of the liver may not be suitable for therapeutic purposes.