Stem-cell therapy for bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Purpose of review Clinical trials of mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) therapy for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) are underway. A thorough understanding of the preclinical work that underpins these trials is critical for neonatal practitioners to properly evaluate them. Recent findings Significant progress has been made in understanding that MSCs have anti-inflammatory and proangiogenic effects, and that these can be mediated by the noncellular exosome fraction of MSCs. In rodent hyperoxia models of BPD, MSCs have a proangiogenic effect mediated largely by vascular endothelial growth factor and shift the balance of endogenous lung cells from a proinflammatory to a prohealing phenotype. MSC-derived exosomes can recapitulate these effects.