Stem cell-conditioned medium does not protect against kidney failure

Paracrine secretion of mediators may be the main route by which stem cells protect against injuries. Stem cells commonly secrete different bioactive molecules. In this study, we examined the hypothesis that administration of conditioned media of stem cells can diminish the burden of kidney injury. A mouse model of cisplatin-induced nephropathy was developed to test the putative renoprotective effects of conditioned media of human umbilical cord blood USSCs (unrestricted somatic stem cells) as well as mouse bone marrow MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells). None of these two types of conditioned medium could protect against kidney failure in terms of serum urea and creatinine, histopathologic examinations and physical activity score. Neither MSC- nor USSC-conditioned media were effective in protecting against kidney injury in our study. Possible explanations for our observations are offered, and related literature is reviewed.