Research Article Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Ameliorate Allergic Airway Inflammation by Inducing Regulatory T Cells in a Mouse Model of Asthma

Copyright © 2014 Kyu-Sup Cho et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Although several studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cells derived from adipose tissue (ASCs) can ameliorate allergic airway inflammation, the immunomodulatory mechanism of ASCs remains unclear. In this study, we investigated whether regulatory T cells (Tregs) induction is a potential mechanism in immunomodulatory effects of ASCs on allergic airway disease and how these induced Tregs orchestrate allergic inflammation. Intravenous administration of ASCs significantly reduced allergic symptoms and inhibited eosinophilic inflammation. Airway hyperresponsiveness, total immune cell and eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, mucus production, and serum allergen-specific IgE and IgG1 were significantly reduced after ASCs administration. ASCs significantly inhibited Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13) and enhanced Th1 cytokine (IFN