A novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causing lethal acute respiratory disease emerged in December 2019. The World Health Organization named this disease “COVID-19” and declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Many studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their exosomes (MSCs-Exo), which are isolated from allogenic bone marrow stem cells, significantly lower the risk of alveolar inflammation and other pathological conditions associated with distinct lung injuries. For example, in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pneumonia patients, MSCs-Exo and MSCs provide similar healing properties and some clinical trials have used cell-based inhalation therapy which show great promise. MSCs and MSCs-Exo have shown potential in clinical trials as a therapeutic tool for severely affected COVID-19 patients when compared to other cell-based therapies, which may face challenges like the cells’ sticking to the respiratory tract epithelia during administration. However, the use of MSCs or MSCs-Exo for treating COVID-19 should strictly adhere to the appropriate manufacturing practices, quality control measurements, preclinical safety and efficacy data, and the proper ethical regulations. This review highlights the available clinical trials that support the therapeutic potential of MSCs or MSCs-Exo in severely affected COVID-19 patients.

中文翻译：

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间充质干细胞及其衍生的外泌体作为 COVID-19 患者免疫调节剂的潜在用途

2019 年 12 月出现了一种新型严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2），可导致致命的急性呼吸道疾病。世界卫生组织将这种疾病命名为“COVID-19”，并于 2020 年 3 月 11 日宣布其为大流行。许多研究表明研究表明，从同种异体骨髓干细胞中分离出的间充质干细胞（MSC）及其外泌体（MSC-Exo）可显着降低肺泡炎症和与不同肺损伤相关的其他病理状况的风险。例如，在急性呼吸窘迫综合征 (ARDS) 和肺炎患者中，MSC-Exo 和 MSC 提供相似的治疗特性，一些临床试验已使用基于细胞的吸入疗法，显示出巨大的前景。与其他基于细胞的疗法相比，MSC 和 MSC-Exo 在临床试验中显示出作为严重感染的 COVID-19 患者的治疗工具的潜力，其他细胞疗法可能面临细胞在给药过程中粘附在呼吸道上皮细胞等挑战。然而，使用 MSC 或 MSC-Exo 治疗 COVID-19 应严格遵守适当的生产实践、质量控制测量、临床前安全性和有效性数据以及适当的道德法规。本综述重点介绍了支持 MSC 或 MSC-Exo 对严重感染的 COVID-19 患者的治疗潜力的可用临床试验。