A preclinical study—systemic evaluation of safety on mesenchymal stem cells derived from human gingiva tissue

BACKGROUND: Mounting evidence has shown that a novel subset of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human gingiva referred to as gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs) displays a greater immunotherapeutic potential and regenerative repair expression than MSCs obtained from other tissues. However, the safety of the use of transplanted GMSCs in humans remains unclear. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated the safety of GMSCs transplanted into mouse, rat, rabbit, beagle dog, and monkey as well as two animal models of autoimmune diseases. RESULTS: In short- and long-term toxicity tests, infused GMSCs had no remarkable adverse effects on hematologic and biochemical indexes, particularly on the major organs such as heart, liver, spleen, and kidney in recipient animals. It was also shown that GMSCs were well tolerated in other assays including hemolysis, vascular, and muscular stimulation, as well as systemic anaphylaxis and passive skin Arthus reaction in animal models. GSMC infusion did not cause any notable side effects on animal models of either autoimmune arthritis or lupus. Significantly, GMSCs most likely play no role in genotoxicity and tumorigenesis. The biological features remained stable for an extended period after cell transfer. CONCLUSIONS: GMSCs are safe in various animal models of autoimmunity, even during active disease episodes, especially in monkeys. This study paves a solid road for future clinical trials of GMSCs in patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13287-019-1262-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.