Background: Preterm infants have immature lungs at birth, and consequently, many require respiratory support to survive outside the womb, which causes lung inflammation and injury. Umbilical cord blood (UCB) contains five cell types that have been shown to reduce inflammation and injury and may be a promising treatment for ventilation induced lung injury (VILI). We aimed to determine whether UCB cells can reduce VILI in preterm lambs.
Methods: Fetal lambs at 126 (+/- 1) days gestation underwent sterile surgery and were randomly allocated to one of three groups; controls, or 15 minutes of injurious ventilation that received either saline (VILI) or 80 million UCB cells (VILICELLS) via the jugular vein 1 hour after ventilation. Lambs were returned to the uterus for 24 h, whereupon they were delivered and the lungs collected for histological and molecular assessment of inflammation and injury.
Results: VILI lead to increased immune cell infiltration (p=0.0017), cellular proliferation (p=0.0367), and tissue wall thickness (p=0.0017) and significantly reduced secondary septal crests formation (p=0.0247) compared to controls. UCB cells were unable to modulate these adverse effects of VILI. mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines and early response genes were not different between any groups.
Conclusions: UCB cells administered 1 hour after injurious ventilation did not reduce VILI. Further studies are required to examine the appropriate dose or timing of administration before UCBs should be considered as a therapy for preterm lung injury.