Fostering mesenchymal stem cell therapy to halt cytokine storm in
COVID-19
Madhan Jeyaramana,b, Albin John c, Santhosh Koshy c, Rajni Ranjan a,
Talagavadi Channaiah Anudeep d, Rashmi Jain e, Kumari Swati h, Niraj Kumar Jha b,
Ankur Sharma g, Kavindra Kumar Kesari f, Anand Prakash h, Parma Nand b,
Saurabh Kumar Jha b,*, P. Hemachandra Reddy i


A B S T R A C T

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been threatening the globe since the end of November 2019. The
disease revealed cracks in the health care system as health care providers across the world were left without
guidelines on definitive usage of pharmaceutical agents or vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO)
declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. Individuals with underlying systemic disorders
have reported complications, such as cytokine storms, when infected with the virus. As the number of positive
cases and the death toll across the globe continue to rise, various researchers have turned to cell based therapy
using stem cells to combat COVID-19. The field of stem cells and regenerative medicine has provided a paradigm
shift in treating a disease with minimally invasive techniques that provides maximal clinical and functional
outcome for patients. With the available evidence of immunomodulatory and immune-privilege actions,
mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can repair, regenerate and remodulate the native homeostasis of pulmonary
parenchyma with improved pulmonary compliance. This article revolves around the usage of novel MSCs therapy
for combating COVID-19