EFFICACY OF THE LOCAL APPLICATION OF MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS IN DETAINING RENAL DAMAGE IN A CKD MODEL: IMPACT OF THE DOSE-RESPONSE IN THE RENOPROTECTIVE EFFECT

• Grant number: 24/23451-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Camilla Fanelli
• Grantee: Mayara Souza dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is characterized by progressive loss of renal function, leading to the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT). Currently, the clinical management of CKD, which aims to slow disease progression and delay the need for RRT, is mainly based on pharmacological blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and inhibition of sodium-glucose cotransporter type 2 (SGLT2). However, despite recent advances, there is still no therapy capable of restoring renal health, recovering already established renal lesions and leading to disease regression, motivating the scientific community to search for more effective therapeutic alternatives to combat CKD. In this context, cell therapy with mesenchymal stem cells (mSCs) has been widely studied. MSCs have a high differentiation capacity and have shown promise in renal therapy, as shown by Morigi et al. (2004), Takemura et al. (2020) and Maires et al (2022). However, despite the enormous therapeutic potential, some knowledge gaps, such as the definition of the ideal administration dose of CTm, remain open. Thus, the present study aims to explore the dose-response effects of the therapeutic application of CTmTA in the renal subcapsular space of animals submitted to a CKD model, aiming at the standardization of a safe and adequate dose that can serve as a starting point for future comparisons in clinical and preclinical studies.