Therapeutic Potential of Human Umbilical Cord Blood Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Murine Model of Hepatic Schistosomiasis

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is endemic in 76 countries; about 207 million people are infected, 120 million people showing symptoms and 20 million severely ill. In Egypt, the incidence of this illness is still high inspite of the considerable effort to eradicate the disease; sixty percent of the Egyptian population is at risk of infection especially children at school age because of their daily contact with infected water in rural areas. The pathogenesis of schistosomiasis is mainly due to the host’s immune response against Schistosoma eggs trapped in tissues causing granulomatous reaction, that result in a clinical disease. Late granulomas results in chronic hepatic fibrosis with excessive deposition of collagen and permanent distortion of architecture. Liver cell failure as a consequence of fibrosis results in many clinical manifestations including ascites, variceal hemorrhage and encephalopathy. As the prognosis of the disease is poor, many hopes rely upon liver transplantation as an alternative treatment. Although there are limited available donors for the hundred millions of patients worldwide thus, it is very important to investigate new therapies.