Stem cells might resolve acute lung injury

CHICAGO, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- University of Illinois researchers say they have shown adult stem cells taken from bone marrow can resolve acute lung injury occurring in a mouse model.

Researchers at the university's College of Medicine said acute lung injury, for which there is no drug treatment, can be caused by any major inflammation or injury to the lungs and is a major cause of death in patients in hospital intensive care units.

In acute lung injury, the layer of cells surrounding the lung's air sacs is damaged, allowing fluid to leak in and fill the sacs, said Assistant Professor Kishore Wary, the study's lead author.

Wary and his colleagues said they were able to identify progenitor stem cells in the bone marrow of mice that could prevent and treat experimentally-induced acute lung injury. When mice with the disease were injected with purified and cultured stem cells, the cells were able to repair the lung injury, prevent fluid build-up and improve survival.

The researchers, reporting their achievement in the journal Stem Cells, said they now hope to explore the possibility of using stem cell therapy in human acute lung injury.