Culture supernatant of adipose stem cells can ameliorate allergic airway inflammation via recruitment of CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3 T cells

BACKGROUND: In a previous study, we demonstrated that intravenous administration of adipose tissue stem cells (ASCs) could significantly reduce allergic symptoms and suppress eosinophilic inflammation. METHODS: To evaluate the secretome of ASCs, we administrated culture supernatant of ASCs (ASC sup, which contains the ASC secretome) and uncultured fresh medium (con sup) into a mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. Subsequently we observed the mice for signs of inflammation and investigated Th1-, Th2-, and T(reg)-related cytokine levels as well as recruitment of T(reg) cells into the airway. RESULTS: We found that ASC sup could ameliorate allergic airway inflammation in this model; the value of airway hyperresponsiveness, and the occurrence of inflammatory cell infiltration in the lung, as well as the number of eosinophils, and goblet cells in the lung epithelium were all significantly decreased by ASC sup treatment. In addition, ASC sup treatment significantly decreased the levels of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 in the bronchial alveolar lavage fluid and in culture medium of lung-draining lymph node cells of the animal model of acute asthma. We detected numerous CTLA-4 and Foxp3-expressing cells in the lung after ASC sup treatment. ASC sup was found to have a higher concentration of IL-10 and TGF-β compared to con sup. CONCLUSIONS: Stem cells have powerful potential for therapeutic functions in various diseases, but they also have many drawbacks. In this study, we found strong immunosuppressive ability of ASC sup in an allergic airway mouse model. It may be possible to use ASC sup for treatment of many immunological diseases in the near future. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-016-0462-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.