Abstract
Purpose :
Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by excessive inflammation of exocrine glands, resulting in its progressive destruction and ultimately leading to symptoms of dryness. Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles (30-150nm) with a lipid bilayer that have anti-inflammatory and immune regulation properties. This study aims to demonstrate the effects Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs)-Derived Exosomes in SS dry eye murine model.
Methods :
Exosomes were obtained from MSCs (Catholic Master Cells) derived from bone marrow and approved by the Korean FDA to be clinically applicable. MSCs-derived Exosome or media-derived exosome control were injected into the subconjunctiva once in 17-week-old NOD/LtJ female mice and sacrificed after 7 days, or administered daily as an eyedrop for 14 days, then sacrificed. Tear production, corneal staining scores, density of goblet cells in the conjunctiva, histology of lacrimal glands and gene expression levels of inflammatory cytokines of cornea-conjunctiva and lacrimal gland were evaluated.
Results :
Exosome-treated mice with subconjunctival injections or eyedrops demonstrated significant increases in tear secretion production and goblet cell density compared to the control. Corneal staining scores and gene expression levels of inflammatory cytokines were drastically decreased in exosome-treated mice compared to the control. Infiltration of inflammatory foci and B cell infiltration in lacrimal gland also decreased in exosome-treated mice compared to the control.
Conclusions :
This study demonstrated attenuations of clinical dry eye phenotype with the administration of MSCs-derived exosome by either subconjunctival injection or eyedrop administration in a SS murine model. MSCs-derived exosome treatment was proved to have therapeutic potential in SS dry eye.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.