Multiple sclerosis (MS), characterized by chronic
inflammation,
demyelination, and axonal damage, is a complicated neurological disease of the human central nervous system. Recent interest in adipose stromal/stem cell (ASCs) for the treatment of
CNS diseases has promoted further investigation in order to identify the most suitable ASCs. To investigate whether MS affects the
biologic properties of ASCs and whether autologous ASCs from MS-affected sources could serve as an effective source for stem cell
therapy, cells were isolated from subcutaneous inguinal fat pads of mice with established
experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a murine model of MS. ASCs from EAE mice and their syngeneic wild-type mice were cultured, expanded, and characterized for their cell morphology,
surface antigen expression, osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation, colony forming units, and inflammatory
cytokine and
chemokine levels in vitro. Furthermore, the therapeutic efficacy of the cells was assessed in vivo by
transplantation into EAE mice. The results indicated that the ASCs from EAE mice displayed a normal phenotype, typical MSC
surface antigen expression, and in vitro osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation capacity, while their osteogenic differentiation capacity was reduced in comparison with their unafflicted control mice. The ASCs from EAE mice also demonstrated increased expression of pro-inflammatory
cytokines and
chemokines, specifically an elevation in the expression of
monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and
keratin chemoattractant. In vivo, infusion of wild type ASCs significantly ameliorate the disease course, autoimmune mediated
demyelination and cell infiltration through the regulation of the inflammatory responses, however, mice treated with autologous ASCs showed no therapeutic improvement on the
disease progression.