Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34663461›Full record

SynthesisStem cell research & therapy2021

The safety of MSC therapy over the past 15 years: a meta-analysis.

Yang Wang, Hanxiao Yi, Yancheng Song

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Stem cell research & therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 125 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
125citing papers in PubMed, 12 pooled it
17.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

125 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 201 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. [Research advances in mesenchymal stem cell therapy for graft-versus-host disease].Zhonghua xue ye xue za zhi = Zhonghua xueyexue zazhi · 2026
    Review
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65 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Yang Wang *Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, No. 19 Nonglinxia Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. wangyang5@mail2.sysu.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0003-2809-2827
Hanxiao Yi *Department of Radiotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 600 Tianhe Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
Yancheng SongDepartment of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, No. 19 Nonglinxia Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. songyancheng@21cn.com.
First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University · CNGuangdong Pharmaceutical University · CNSun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite increasing clinical investigations emphasizing the safety of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy in different populations with different diseases, no article has recently reviewed the adverse events in all populations.

aimTo evaluate the safety of MSC therapy in all populations receiving MSC therapy and explore the potential heterogeneities influencing the clinical application of MSCs.

methodsThe PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched from onset until 1 March 2021.

resultsAll adverse events are displayed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs (confidential intervals). In total, 62 randomized clinical trials were included that enrolled 3546 participants diagnosed with various diseases (approximately 20 types of diseases) treated with intravenous or local implantation versus placebo or no treatment. All studies were of high quality, and neither serious publication bias nor serious adverse events (such as death and infection) were discovered across the included studies. The pooled analysis demonstrated that MSC administration was closely associated with transient fever (OR, 3.65, 95% CI 2.05-6.49, p < 0.01), administration site adverse events (OR, 1.98, 95% CI 1.01-3.87, p = 0.05), constipation (OR, 2.45, 95% CI 1.01-5.97, p = 0.05), fatigue (OR, 2.99, 95% CI 1.06-8.44, p = 0.04) and sleeplessness (OR, 5.90, 95% CI 1.04-33.47, p = 0.05). Interestingly, MSC administration trended towards lowering rather than boosting the incidence rate of arrhythmia (OR, 0.62, 95% CI 0.36-1.07, p = 0.09).

conclusionsConclusively, MSC administration was safe in different populations compared with other placebo modalities.

Indexed as

Mesenchymal Stem CellsMesenchymal Stem Cell TransplantationHumansAll populationsMeta-analysisMSC therapyRandomized clinical trialsSafety

Identifiers

PMID34663461
PMCPMC8522073
OpenAlexW3207206612

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.