Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Secretome for Post-COVID-19 Pulmonary Fibrosis: A New Therapy to Treat the Long-Term Lung Sequelae?

To date, more than 100 million people worldwide have recovered from COVID-19. Unfortunately, although the virus is eradicated in such patients, fibrotic irreversible interstitial lung disease (pulmonary fibrosis, PF) is clinically evident. Given the vast numbers of individuals affected, it is urgent to design a strategy to prevent a second wave of late mortality associated with COVID-19 PF as a long-term consequence of such a devastating pandemic. Available antifibrotic therapies, namely nintedanib and pirfenidone, might have a role in attenuating profibrotic pathways in SARS-CoV-2 infection but are not economically sustainable by national health systems and have critical adverse effects. It is our opinion that the mesenchymal stem cell secretome could offer a new therapeutic approach in treating COVID-19 fibrotic lungs through its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic factors.

Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Secretome for Severe COVID-19 Infections: Premises for the Therapeutic Use.

From the end of 2019, the world population has been faced the spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19 infection. In approximately 14% of the patients affected by the novel coronavirus, the infection progresses with the development of pneumonia that requires mechanical ventilation. At the moment, there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for the COVID-19 pandemic and the therapeutic strategies to deal with the infection are only supportive. In our opinion, mesenchymal stem cell secretome could offer a new therapeutic approach in treating COVID-19 pneumonia, due to the broad pharmacological effects it shows, including anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, regenerative, pro-angiogenic and anti-fibrotic properties.