Atherosclerosis is a chronic progressive vascular inflammation characterized by lipid deposition and plaque formation, for which vascular cell dysfunction and impaired immune responses are involved. Up to now, lipid-lowering drugs remain the main therapy for treating atherosclerosis; however, the surgical or interventional therapy is often applied, and yet, morbidity and mortality of such cardiovascular disease remain high worldwide. Over the past decades, an anti-inflammatory approach has become an important therapeutic target for dealing with atherosclerosis, as altered immune responses have been regarded as an essential player in the pathological process of vascular abnormality induced by hyperlipidemia. Interestingly, mesenchymal stem cells, one type of stem cells with the capabilities of self-renewal and multi-potential, have demonstrated their unique immunomodulatory function in the various pathological process, especially in atherosclerosis. While some controversies remain regarding their therapeutic efficacy and working mechanisms, our present review aims to summarize the current research progress on stem cell-based therapy, focusing on its immunomodulatory effects on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and how endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and other immune cells are regulated by MSC-based therapy.

中文翻译：

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MSCs治疗动脉粥样硬化的相关进展。

动脉粥样硬化是一种以脂质沉积和斑块形成为特征的慢性进行性血管炎症，涉及血管细胞功能障碍和免疫反应受损。迄今为止，降脂药物仍然是治疗动脉粥样硬化的主要疗法。然而，外科手术或介入疗法经常被使用，然而，这种心血管疾病的发病率和死亡率在世界范围内仍然很高。在过去的几十年中，抗炎方法已成为治疗动脉粥样硬化的重要治疗靶标，因为改变的免疫反应已被认为是高脂血症引起的血管异常的病理过程的重要参与者。有趣的是，间充质干细胞是一种具有自我更新和多潜能的干细胞，已证明其在各种病理过程中具有独特的免疫调节功能，尤其是在动脉粥样硬化中。尽管关于其治疗功效和工作机制仍存在一些争议，我们的综述旨在总结基于干细胞疗法的当前研究进展，重点是其对动脉粥样硬化发病机理的免疫调节作用以及内皮细胞，平滑肌细胞和其他细胞的作用免疫细胞由基于MSC的疗法调节。