Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40048256›Full record

ArticleJCI insight2025

MSC transplantation ameliorates depression in lupus by suppressing Th1 cell-shaped synaptic stripping.

Xiaojuan Han, Dandan Wang, Liang Chen, Hua Song, Xiulan Zheng, Xin Zhang, Shengnan Zhao, Jun Liang, Tianshu Xu, Zhibin Hu and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JCI insight, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
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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

11 authors.

Xiaojuan HanDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Dandan WangDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Liang ChenDepartment of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Hua SongDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Xiulan ZhengSchool of Pharmacy, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China.
Xin ZhangDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Shengnan ZhaoDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Jun LiangDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
Tianshu XuDepartment of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Zhibin HuState Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Lingyun SunDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease, can cause psychiatric disorders, particularly depression, via immune activation. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cell (hUCMSC) transplantation (MSCT) has been shown to ameliorate immune dysfunction in SLE by inducing immune tolerance. However, whether MSCT can relieve the depressive symptoms in SLE remains incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrate that MSCT relieved early-onset depression-like behavior in both genetically lupus-prone (MRL/lpr) and pristane-induced lupus mice by rescuing impaired hippocampal synaptic connectivity. Transplanted hUCMSCs targeted Th1 cell-derived IFN-γ to inhibit neuronal JAK/STAT1 signaling and downstream CCL8 expression, reducing phagocytic microglia apposition to alleviate synaptic engulfment and neurological dysfunction in young (8-week-old) lupus mice. Systemic delivery of exogenous IFN-γ blunted MSCT-mediated alleviation of synaptic loss and depressive behavior in lupus mice, suggesting that the IFN-γ/CCL8 axis may be an effective therapeutic target and that MSCT is a potential therapy for lupus-related depression. In summary, transplanted hUCMSCs can target systemic immunity to ameliorate psychiatric disorders by rescuing synaptic loss, highlighting the active role of neurons as intermediaries between systemic immunity and microglia in this process.

Indexed as

DepressionLupus Erythematosus, SystemicMesenchymal Stem Cell TransplantationSynapsesTh1 CellsAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHippocampusHumansInterferon-gammaMiceMice, Inbred C57BLMicrogliaInterferon-gammaAutoimmune diseasesAutoimmunityDepressionImmunotherapyInflammationNeuroscience

Identifiers

PMID40048256
PMCPMC12016924

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.