Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multilineage differentiating stromal cells with extensive immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. MSC-based therapy is widely used in the treatment of various pathologies, including bone and cartilage diseases, cardiac ischemia, diabetes, and neurological disorders. Along with MSCs, it is promising to study the therapeutic properties of exosomes derived from MSCs (MSC-Exo). A number of studies report that the therapeutic properties of MSC-Exo are superior to those of MSCs. In particular, MSC-Exo are used for tissue regeneration in various diseases, such as healing of skin wounds, cancer, coronary heart disease, lung injury, liver fibrosis, and neurological, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases. In this regard, it is not surprising that the scientific community is interested in studying the therapeutic properties of MSCs and MSC-Exo in the treatment of psoriasis. This review summarizes the recent advancements from preclinical and clinical studies of MSCs and MSC-Exo in the treatment of psoriasis, and it also discusses their mechanisms of therapeutic action involved in the treatment of this disease.

AtheroscleroAtherosclerosis is a multifactorial and complex disease involving the arterial intima of the circulatory system. The main risk factors of atherosclerosis are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemic states, smoking, mental stress, unhealthy diet, and a lack of physical activity. Recent studies have shown that dyslipidemia, inflammation and immune cells are involved in all stages of the development of atherosclerosis. Mesenchymal stem cells are a heterogeneous subset of multipotent cells that can be isolated from nearly all human organs and tissues, and they possess both regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells are able to provide immunosuppressive, regenerative, and atheroprotective effects by reducing dyslipidemia, inflammation and inhibiting endothelial cell dysfunction and plaque formation during the development of atherosclerosis in animal models. Based on these beneficial effects, mesenchymal stem cells are considered a promising alternative therapeutic approach for the effective treatment of atherosclerosis.sis is a multifactorial and complex disease involving the arterial intima of the circulatory system. The main risk factors of atherosclerosis are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemic states, smoking, mental stress, unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity. Recent studies have shown that dyslipidemia, inflammation and immune cells are involved in all stages of development of atherosclerosis. Mesenchymal stem cells are a heterogeneous subset of multipotent cells that can be isolated from nearly all human organs and tissues, and they possess both regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. Recent studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells are able to provide immunosuppressive, regenerative and atheroprotective effects by reducing dyslipidemia, inflammation, and inhibiting endothelial cell dysfunction and plaque formation during the development of atherosclerosis in animal models. Based on these beneficial effects, mesenchymal stem cells are considered a promising alternative therapeutic approach for effective treatment of atherosclerosis. In this review, we summarize the current findings on potential applications of mesenchymal stem cells for preventing and regressing atherosclerosis as well as discuss strategies for improving the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy. In this review, we summarize the current findings on potential applications of mesenchymal stem cells for preventing and regressing atherosclerosis as well as discuss strategies for improving the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy.

The repair of critical-sized calvarial defects is a challenging problem for orthopedic surgery. One of the promising strategies of bone bioengineering to enhance the efficacy of large bone defect regeneration is the combined delivery of stem cells with osteoinductive factors within polymer carriers. The purpose of the research was to study the regenerative effects of heparin-conjugated fibrin (HCF) hydrogel containing bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and adipose-derived pericytes (ADPs) in a rat critical-sized calvarial defect model. In vitro analysis revealed that the HCF hydrogel was able to control the BMP-2 release and induce alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in neonatal rat osteoblasts. In addition, it was found that eluted BMP-2 significantly induced the osteogenic differentiation of ADPs. It was characterized by the increased ALP activity, osteocalcin expression and calcium deposits in ADPs. In vivo studies have shown that both HCF hydrogel with BMP-2 and HCF hydrogel with pericytes are able to significantly increase the regeneration of critical-sized calvarial defects in comparison with the control group. Nevertheless, the greatest regenerative effect was found after the co-delivery of ADPs and BMP-2 into a critical-sized calvarial defect. Thus, our findings suggest that the combined delivery of ADPs and BMP-2 in HCF hydrogel holds promise to be applied as an alternative biopolymer for the critical-sized bone defect restoration.

Aim: This study aimed to conduct a literature review on the prevalence, incidence, gender and age distribution of psoriasis, as well as the economic burden of psoriasis worldwide, including Kazakhstan. Material and methods: A literature review was conducted using keywords in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, eLibrary.ru databases, and Google Scholar to identify relevant articles. Results: The prevalence of psoriasis varies by geographic location and race. However, psoriasis is predominantly common in Western countries and among people of European descent: in Norway (4.6%), France (4.42%), Portugal (4.4%), and the United States of America (3.0%). Significant differences in the prevalence of this disease were identified in Kazakhstan, ranging from 0.86% to 2.5%. In many Western countries, the incidence rate of psoriasis is significantly higher than the global incidence rate (57.8 cases per 100,000 population): in Denmark (199.5), Italy (230.62), and Israel (280), respectively. In Kazakhstan, the incidence rate is 35.0 per 100,000 population, which is almost 1.7 times lower than the global rate. Psoriasis affects both genders. There is a bimodal pattern of manifestation of psoriasis with early (type I) and late (type II) onset, which occurs in the age range of 30–40 years, and about 60 years. In addition, treating and providing medications to patients with psoriasis represents a significant economic burden for both the government and the patients themselves. Conclusion: The study made it possible to determine the current epidemiological situation of psoriasis worldwide, including Kazakhstan, as well as to assess the economic burden of this disease.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is an inflammatory disease involving multiple factors in its initiation and development. In recent years, the potential application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for treating AS has been investigated. This study examined the effect of TNF-α preconditioning on MSCs’ therapeutic efficacy in treating AS in ApoE KO mice. TNF-α-treated MSCs were administered to high-fat diet-treated ApoE KO mice. Cytokine and serum lipid levels were measured before and after treatment. Cryosections of the atherosclerotic aorta were stained with Oil-Red-O, and the relative areas of atherosclerotic lesions were measured. The level of Tregs were increased in TNF-α-MSC-treated animals compared to the MSCs group. In addition, the systemic administration of TNF-α-MSCs to ApoE KO mice reduced the level of proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IFN-γ and increased the level of the immunosuppressive IL-10 in the blood serum. Total cholesterol and LDL levels were decreased, and HDL levels were increased in the TNF-α-MSCs group of ApoE KO mice. A histological analysis showed that TNF-α-MSCs decreased the size of the atherosclerotic lesion in the aorta of ApoE KO mice by 38%, although there was no significant difference when compared with untreated MSCs. Thus, our data demonstrate that TNF-α-MSCs are more effective at treating AS than untreated MSCs.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of multipotent, non-hematopoietic cells of mesodermal origin. Due to their strong immunomodulatory, immunosuppressive, and regenerative potential, MSCs are used in cell therapy for inflammatory, immune-mediated, and degenerative diseases. Exosomes derived from MSCs have several advantages over MSC therapy, including non-immunogenicity, lack of infusion toxicity, ease of isolation, manipulation, and storage, cargo specificity, and the absence of tumor-forming potential and ethical concerns. We hypothesized that preconditioning human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSCs) with the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 17 (IL-17), IL-22, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), the increased levels of which are typical in psoriasis patients, can significantly increase the therapeutic efficacy of both hUCB-MSCs and their exosomes (hUCB-MSC-Exo). Our aim was to compare the therapeutic effects of hUCB-MSCs preconditioned with various combinations of proinflammatory cytokines and their hUCB-MSC-Exo, in an in vivo imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation model in mice. Our results showed a significant attenuation of psoriasis symptoms (erythema, scaling, and skin thickness) in mice treated with intact hUCB-MSCs, hUCB-MSCs preconditioned with IL-22 and TNF-α, and hUCB-MSC-Exo preconditioned with IL-17, IL-22 and TNF-α (MSC-Exo 3C). However, the most pronounced therapeutic effect was observed with MSC-Exo 3C treatment. In summary, we demonstrated that MSC-Exo 3C transplantation has therapeutic potential for treating psoriasis-like skin lesions.