The Effect of Boric Acid and Sodium Pentaborate Pentahydrate-Treated Foreskin Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells on Liver Fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is a worldwide public health problem due to its life-threatening complications, including portal hypertension, liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Liver fibrosis is the net result of a complex excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM). Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the cause of deposition of ECM and are commonly recognized as a key step in liver fibrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of foreskin-derived mesenchymal stem cells treated with boron compounds on liver fibrosis. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with thioacetamide (TAA) at a dose of 150 mg/kg except sham and control groups’ rats. Thioacetamide (TAA), foreskin-derived mesenchymal stem cells (TAA + FSDMSC), FSDMSC treated with boric acid (TAA + FSDMSC + BA), FSDMSC treated with sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (TAA + FSDMSC + NaB), control and sham groups were studied. Boron compound treated foreskin-derived mesenchymal stem cells were injected into the tail vein, and evaluations were conducted after 4 weeks and liver tissues were obtained for structural, immunohistochemical, and western blot studies and blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis. FSDMSC (BA) alleviates TAA-induced rats liver fibrosis, and BA showed a positive effect on foreskin-derived mesenchymal stem cells viability. After using BA-treated mesenchymal stem cells, we observed that there was regression in the fibrotic areas at TAA-induced liver fibrosis. The result demonstrates that the contribution of TAA + FSDMSC and TAA + FSDMSC (NaB) at the level of structure is not effective in regression of fibrosis in TAA-generated liver fibrosis. We concluded that FSDMSC treated with BA may be a factor in the regression of fibrosis.