The Relationship between the Number of Stem Cells and the Concentration of Stromal Cell-Derived Factor-1 with Disease Severity in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis
Abstract
Background: The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) is important in tissue repair. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the number of stem cells in the blood and the blood concentration of stromal cell-derived factor 1 with disease severity in cirrhotic patients.
Materials and Methods: In this study, 15 patients with cirrhosis and 15 healthy individuals aged 18 to 65 were randomly selected between January 2016 and July 2017. The number of circulating stem cells and SDF-1 levels were compared in the patient and healthy control groups. The correlation between circulating stem cells (CSC) and SDF-1 concentration with disease severity was evaluated.
Results: 33% of cirrhotic patients were classified as severity B and 67% as severity C by the Child-Pugh method. The percentage of stem cells and mean SDF-1 concentration in patients with cirrhosis was approximately 2.8 (p < 0.01) and 1.81 (P < 0.01) times higher than healthy individuals, respectively. Patients with a more severe form of the disease had significantly higher concentrations of SDF-1 in peripheral blood than patients with a milder form (p=0.04).
Conclusion: The percentage of stem cells and the concentration of SDF-1 in the serum of cirrhotic patients were significantly higher compared with the control group. In addition, there was no significant relationship between the percentage of circulating stem cells and the severity of the disease, whereas a direct relationship between the severity of the disease and the concentration of SDF-1 was observed.
2. Kim G, Kim MY, Baik SK. Transient elastography versus hepatic venous pressure gradient for diagnosing portal hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2017;23(1):34-41.
3. Shim KY, Eom YW, Kim MY, et al. Role of the renin-angiotensin system in hepatic fibrosis and portal hypertension. Korean J Intern Med. 2018;33(3):453-461.
4. Asrani SK, Devarbhavi H, Eaton J, et al. Burden of liver diseases in the world. J Hepatol. 2019;70(1):151-71.
5. Kang SH, Kim MY, Baik SK. Novelties in the pathophysiology and management of portal hypertension: new treatments on the horizon. Hepatol Int. 2018;12(Suppl 1):112-21.
6. Kang SH, Kim MY, Eom YW, et al. Mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of liver disease: present and perspectives. Gut Liver. 2020;14(3):306-315.
7. Corbett JL, Duncan SA. iPSC-derived hepatocytes as a platform for disease modeling and drug discovery. Front Med (Lausanne). 2019;6:265.
8. Si‐Tayeb K, Noto FK, Nagaoka M, et al. Highly efficient generation of human hepatocyte–like cells from induced pluripotent stem cells. Hepatology. 2010;51(1):297-305.
9. Kim G, Eom YW, Baik SK, et al. Therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells for patients with chronic liver diseases: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Korean Med Sci. 2015;30(10):1405-15.
10. Secunda R, Vennila R, Mohanashankar A, et al. Isolation, expansion and characterisation of mesenchymal stem cells from human bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord blood and matrix: a comparative study. Cytotechnology. 2015;67(5):793-807.
11. Gilbert W, Bragg R, Elmansi AM, McGee-Lawrence ME, Isales CM, Hamrick MW, et al. Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12) and its role in bone and muscle biology. Cytokine. 2019;123:154783.
12. Kinoshita M. CELLULAR, MOLECULAR, GENOMICS, AND BIOMEDICAL APPROACHES | Germ Cell Migration and Trans Sex. In: Farrell AP, editor. Encyclopedia of Fish Physiology. San Diego: Academic Press; 2011. pp: 2046-54.
13. Lataillade JJ, Clay D, Dupuy C, et al. Chemokine SDF-1 enhances circulating CD34+ cell proliferation in synergy with cytokines: possible role in progenitor survival. Blood. 2000;95(3):756-68.
14. Motabi IH, DiPersio JF. Advances in stem cell mobilization. Blood Rev. 2012;26(6):267-78.
15. Nagasawa T. Cxcl12/sdf-1 and cxcr4. Front Immunol. 2015;6:301.
16. Donnelly DS, Krause DS. Hematopoietic stem cells can be CD34+ or CD34. Leuk Lymphoma. 2001;40(3-4):221-34.
17. Le Guern AC, Giovino MA, Abe M, et al. Stem cell activity of porcine c-kit+ hematopoietic cells. Exp Hematol. 2003;31(9):833-40.
18. Matsuoka Y, Sasaki Y, Nakatsuka R, et al. Low level of c-kit expression marks deeply quiescent murine hematopoietic stem cells. Stem Cells. 2011;29(11):1783-91.
19. Higashi T, Friedman SL, Hoshida Y. Hepatic stellate cells as key target in liver fibrosis. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2017;121:27-42.
20. Kwak KA, Cho HJ, Yang JY, et al. Current perspectives regarding stem cell-based therapy for liver cirrhosis. Can J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;2018:4197857.
21. Thüring J, Rippel O, Haarburger C, et al. Multiphase CT-based prediction of Child-Pugh classification: a machine learning approach. Eur Radiol Exp. 2020;4(1):20.
22. Körbling M, Katz RL, Khanna A, et al. Hepatocytes and epithelial cells of donor origin in recipients of peripheral-blood stem cells. N Engl J Med. 2002;346(10):738-46.
23. Dalakas E, Newsome PN, Boyle S, et al. Bone marrow stem cells contribute to alcohol liver fibrosis in humans. Stem Cells Dev. 2010;19(9):1417-25.
24. Kaur S, Sehgal R, Shastry SM, et al. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells present an inflammatory phenotype and function in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Front Physiol. 2018;9:556.
25. Lataillade JJ, Domenech J, Le Bousse‐Kerdilès MC. Stromal cell‐derived factor‐1 (SDF‐1)\CXCR4 couple plays multiple roles on haematopoietic progenitors at the border between the old cytokine and new chemokine worlds: survival, cell cycling and trafficking. Eur Cytokine Netw. 2004;15(3):177-88.
26. Fiorina P, Pietramaggiori G, Scherer SS, et al. The mobilization and effect of endogenous bone marrow progenitor cells in diabetic wound healing. Cell Transplant. 2010;19(11):1369-81.
27. Bihari C, Anand L, Rooge S, et al. Bone marrow stem cells and their niche components are adversely affected in advanced cirrhosis of the liver. Hepatology. 2016;64(4):1273-88.
28. Kedarisetty CK, Anand L, Bhardwaj A, et al. Combination of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and erythropoietin improves outcomes of patients with decompensated cirrhosis. Gastroenterology. 2015;148(7):1362-70. e7.
29. Spahr L, Chalandon Y, Terraz S, et al. Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation in patients with decompensated alcoholic liver disease: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53719.
30. Chalin A, Lefevre B, Devisme C, et al. Serum CXCL10, CXCL11, CXCL12, and CXCL14 chemokine patterns in patients with acute liver injury. Cytokine. 2018;111:500-504.
31. Chalin A, Lefevre B, Devisme C, et al. Circulating levels of CXCL11 and CXCL12 are biomarkers of cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Cytokine. 2019;117:72-78.
Files | ||
Issue | Vol 19 No 2 (2025) | |
Section | Original Article(s) | |
Keywords | ||
Stem cell; SDF-1; Cirrhosis; CD34 |
Rights and permissions | |
![]() |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |