Figure 4

hMSCs Decrease Acute Inflammation in the Acute Asthma Lung Model. hMSCs (10⁶/100 ul injected) were given by tail vein injection at day 14 post-sensitization. Mice were evaluated after 5 days of challenge for inflammation. Concurrent mice were evaluated specifically for histology (Figure 4B and 4C). Treatment of the acute asthma mice with MSCs resulted in increased production of macrophages and decreased production of neutrophils and eosinophils. Histologically, the epithelial lining of the bronchiolar airways appears to have less thickening and less surrounding mucus (4C: 40×) when compared with animals not treated with hMSCs (4B: 40×). Histology is representative of 5 different experiments with 6-8 mice in each group. Inflammation is representative of 5 different experiments with n = 4-6 for each group. To determine the relationship between response to hMSCs and the differentiation of the hMSCs, the percent change in total cellular recruitment post-hMSC treatment was plotted against the cube score values in Table I (4D). Cube score values statistically correlated to percent decrease in cellular recruitment (decrease in inflammation) with r² = 0.68, p = 0.02, n = 7 different cube scores on n = 7 different hMSCs in 7 different ovalbumin challenged asthma experiments.