Stem cells derived from Patients with Metabolic Syndrome may be Compromised

Recent research from the laboratory of Lilach O. Lerman (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA) revealed that metabolic syndrome (obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and low HDL) promotes the packaging of pro-inflammatory proteins into extracellular vesicles and decreases the packaging of proteins related to the reparative capacity of stem cells.

This phenomenon reduces the therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) derived from a patient suffering from metabolic syndrome.

While the authors note that their study suffers from small sample size and the short duration of the metabolic syndrome-inducing diet when compared to the human disease, they still believe that their findings still caution against the therapeutic application of autologous MSCs in patients with metabolic syndrome.

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