Background
Haematological malignancies represent ∼7% of all malignant diseases. Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive and fatal disease. AML treatment basically remained unimproved in the last 20 years; it depends upon induction of cytotoxic chemotherapy. An average of less than 30% of AML patients survive for the long term. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are currently being investigated for an ever-expanding number of clinical indications based on their tissue-regenerative, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects. The leukaemic inhibitory factor gene () induces the differentiation of AML cells and inhibits their growth, while the interleukin-10 (IL-10) might be an efficient inhibitor of tumour metastasis.
Aim
The present work aimed to detect the effect of human umbilical cord blood-derived (HUCB-MSCs) on the expression of the gene and on IL-10 in AML patients.
Materials and methods
The MSCs were separated from HUCB, and co-cultured with samples collected from peripheral blood of AML-insulted adults before chemotherapy. The expression of gene and the IL-10 level were measured using the real-time PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques, respectively, before and after the co-culture aiming to evaluate the immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects of the MSCs.
Statistical analysis
The results were considered statistically significant if a ‘ value’ was found to be less than 0.05 based on one-way analysis of variance analysis and paired -test.
Results
The present study revealed that the group of AML cells co-cultured with HUCB-MSCs showed a significant increase in the expression level of gene compared with the untreated group. The group of AML cells co-cultured with MSCs showed a significant decrease in the IL-10 concentration compared to that of the untreated group.
Conclusion
Our data demonstrated that co-culture of AML with MSCs represents a simple approach to inhibit leukaemic cells .