The salvage therapy utilizing human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells to treat severe COVID-19 patients: case series

Background: COVID-19 has become one of the biggest challenges globally, yet no specifically effective medication has been developed. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibit properties of immune regulation and regeneration, which may suppress the over-inflammatory response and promote recovery of lung damage caused by COVID-19 and offer the potential as a therapeutic option. Methods: At the very beginning of COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, we investigated the use of human umbilical cord-derived MSCs (hUC-MSCs) as a salvage therapy in five severe COVID-19 patients, with each patient receiving intravenous infusion of hUC-MSCs three times. Results: All patients showed significant improvement in clinical manifestations, including laboratory biomarkers and findings of lung computed tomography images, after at least one dose of MSC therapy. Conclusion: These results suggest that MSC therapy is safe and can reduce the inflammatory response and alleviate the clinical symptoms of critically ill COVID-19 patients.