Characteristics of Mouse Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells and Therapeutic Comparisons between Syngeneic and Allogeneic Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Transplantation in Experimental Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Previously, we found that the intravenous administration of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells was a promising therapeutic option for autoimmune thyroiditis even when the cells were transplanted into a xenogeneic model without an immunosuppressant. Therefore, we explored the comparison between the therapeutic effects of syngeneic and allogeneic adipose tissue-derived stem cells on an experimental autoimmune thyroiditis mouse model. Experimental autoimmune thyroiditis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by immunization with porcine thyroglobulin. Adipose tissue-derived stem cells derived from C57BL/6 mice (syngeneic) or BALB/c mice (allogeneic) or saline as a vehicle control were administered intravenously four times weekly. Blood and tissue samples were collected 1 week after the last transplantation. Adipose tissue-derived stem cells from mice were able to differentiate into multiple lineages in vitro; however, mouse adipose tissue-derived stem cells did not have immunophenotypes identical to those from humans. Syngeneic and allogeneic administrations of adipose tissue-derived stem cells reduced thyroglobulin autoantibodies and the inflammatory immune response, protected against lymphocyte infiltration into the thyroid, and restored the Th1/Th2 balance without any adverse effects. However, different humoral immune responses were observed for infused cells from different stem cell sources. The strongest humoral immune response was induced by xenogeneic transplantation, followed by allogeneic and syngeneic administration, in that order. The stem cells were mostly found in the spleen, not the thyroid. This migration might be because the stem cells primarily function in systemic immune modulation, due to being given prior to disease induction. In this study, we confirmed that there were equal effects of adipose tissue-derived stem cells in treating autoimmune thyroiditis between syngeneic and allogeneic transplantations.