Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Histology

Background and Aim of the work: Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn{u2019}s disease (CD), is a chronic complex immune-inflammatory disorder with increasing prevalence and inadequate conventional treatment. So, this work was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) versus ADSC-conditioned medium (CM) in a rat model of enteritis (Crohn{u2019}s disease). Materials and Methods: Fifty-six female albino rats were used in this study, 16 rats served as control (group I). In the remaining 40 rats, enteritis was induced by SC injection of 2 doses of indomethacin 7.5 mg/kg, on days 0 &1 of the experiment.They were left until day 10 then divided equally into 5 groups: Groups II & III received no further treatment and sacrificed at days 10 and 24 respectively. Groups IV,V &VI were treated with ADSCs (1{u00D7}106 cells, IV single dose ), ADSC-CM (0.5ml IP, 5 doses) and DMEM (0.5ml IP, 5 doses) respectively; they were all sacrificed at day 24. Ileum specimens were taken from all animals and stained with H&E, Masson's trichrome & Alcian blue/ PAS stains as well as MMP1 and PCNA immunostains. Morphometric measurements of area % of collagen & MMP1, number of goblet cells & PCNA positive cells as well as optical density of Alcian blue/ PAS reaction were taken and statistically analyzed.Results: Groups II, III and VI revealed obvious damage of villi and crypts, desquamation of epithelium, oedema and obvious mononuclear cellular infiltration together with significant decrease in number of goblet cells & PCNA +ve cells as well as in the optical density of Alcian blue/ PAS reaction and significant increase in the area % of collagen (only in groups III&VI) and MMP1 as compared to control. Groups IV and V nearly regained the normal histological structure of villi & crypts with significant increase in number of goblet cells & PCNA +ve cells as well as in the optical density of Alcian blue/ PAS reaction and significant decrease in the area % of collagen and MMP1

Issued also as CD