Suppression of interleukin 17 contributes to the immunomodulatory effects of adipose-derived stem cells in a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Due to roles in immunoregulation and low immunogenicity, mesenchymal stem cells have been suggested to be potent regulators of the immune response and may represent promising treatments for autoimmune disease. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), stromal cells derived from adipose tissue, were investigated with allogeneic ADSCs in B6.MRL/lpr mice, a murine model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We intravenously injected allogeneic ADSCs into SLE mice after disease onset and report that ADSCs reduced anti-ds DNA antibodies in serum and proteinuria in SLE mice. Also, ADSCs decreased IL-17 and IL-6 expression in serum of SLE mice. ADSCs alleviated renal damage and inflammatory cell infiltration and edema of the renal interstitium. Furthermore, ADSCs significantly downregulated renal IL-17 and CD68 expression, suggesting that ADSCs suppressed renal inflammation. ADSCs also decreased IL-17 mRNA expression and increased Foxp3, ROR-γt and miR-23b mRNA expression in renal tissue in SLE mice. ADSCs reduced renal protein expression of TAB 2 and IKK-α in SLE mice. Thus, ADSCs may be a novel potential therapy for treating SLE.