Written by Dr. Matías Fernández Viña Many people have asked me if stem cell treatment can help patients with COVID-19.
The answer is yes, with grades.
First, some background on the different types of stem cells that are available. Only adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells, are considered safe for use.
If they come from another human being, they are called allogeneic.
If they come from the patient undergoing treatment, they are called autologous. These are the types of cells potentially available.
1. SVF: Stem cells are isolated from fat mixed with other immune system cells: this preparation is called SVF (stromal vascular fraction). They are always autologous.
They can be prepared and used all at once.
2. ADSCs: These are fat cells that can be separated, cultured, and expanded, and are called ADSCs (adipose tissue-derived stem cells). These can be autologous or allogeneic. Autologous cells require weeks for culture. Allogeneic cells may be available immediately after prior culture.
3.BMSC: bone marrow stem cells, analogous to ADSCs. They can be cultured and expanded, autologous or allogeneic.
4.UCMSC: An allogeneic cell type is isolated from the umbilical cord at birth, abbreviated UCMS for umbilical cord blood. These are always allogeneic.
So, what type of stem cell is potentially most useful for COVID-19?
– SC / BMSC / UCMSC [ALLOGENEIC]: Because they are pre-cultured, they are readily available. They have been used successfully in a small study in China. They have also been used anecdotally with good success in Israel and elsewhere.
– SVF: This has also been used successfully in Europe. However, it requires the removal of fat through a minor surgical procedure on a potentially critically ill patient, whereas the other procedures do not.
Therefore, while it may help, there are likely limitations in the patients in whom it can be used for the ACTIVE state of Covid-19 disease, but these cells are the most promising for the treatment of pulmonary sequelae causing Pulmonary Scarring Fibrosis.
MECHANISM OF ACTION: Stem cells are “immunomodulators.” An overactive immune response fills the lungs with fluid, leading to pneumonia and sometimes death. Stem cells mitigate/modulate this process, and the patient benefits.
There is a debate about whether they also help through other means.
SIDE EFFECTS: Mesenchymal stem cells are completely safe when handled correctly by a physician specializing in regenerative medicine. Approved medications are also quite safe.
In conclusion…Allogeneic cultured stem cells from fat/bone marrow/umbilical cord are almost certainly effective for COVID-19 patients and are virtually completely safe
SVF is probably the most effective treatment for POST COVID patients who develop significant pulmonary sequelae.
If mesenchymal stem cell therapies prove more effective than other treatments as more data accumulates, they could assume a higher ranking in the hierarchy of effective treatments for science, in a world where conventional medicine is ceasing to be the sole protagonist.
