Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis and is an idiopathic, chronic inflammatory disease of the colonic mucosa. The occurrence of IBD, causes irreversible damage to the colon and increases the risk of carcinoma. The routine clinical treatment of IBD includes drug treatment, endoscopic treatment and surgery. The vast majority of patients are treated with drugs and biological agents, but the complete cure of IBD is difficult. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have become a new type of cell therapy for the treatment of IBD due to their immunomodulatory and nutritional functions, which have been confirmed in many clinical trials. This review discusses some potential mechanisms of MSCs in the treatment of IBD, summarizes the experimental results, and provides new insights to enhance the therapeutic effects of MSCs in future applications.

Core Tip: Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation is a novel treatment method for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that has exhibits certain achievements in clinical trials. Here, we reviewed the developed strategies for enhancing the therapeutic effect of MSCs, and among these, pretreatment with MSCs is the most common method. The pretreatments include bioactive substances, hypoxia and modification of culture methods and are able to enhance the migration ability of MSCs to repair the damaged intestinal mucosa or upregulate the expression of cytokines. These methods provide new ideas for the future clinical application of MSCs in the treatment of IBD.

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Strategies to improve the effect of mesenchymal stem cell therapy on inflammatory bowel disease - Newswise