Efficacy and Safety of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Therapy for COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease prevalent worldwide with a high mortality rate, and there is currently no specific medicine to treat patients. Objective: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy for COVID-19 by providing references for subsequent clinical treatments and trials. Method: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science, using the following keywords: “stem cell” or “stromal cell” and “COVID-19.” Controlled clinical trials published in English until 24th August 2021 were included. We followed the PRISMA guidelines and used Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing the risk of bias. We analysed the data using a fixed-effect model. Results: We identified 1779 studies, out of which eight were eligible and included in this study. Eight relevant studies consisted of 156 patients treated with stem cells and 144 controls (300 individuals in total). There were no SAEs associated with stem cell therapy in all six studies, and no significant differences in AEs (p = 0.09, I² = 40%, OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.26 to 1.09) between the experimental group and control group were observed. Moreover, the meta-analysis found that stem cell therapy effectively reduced the high mortality rate of COVID-19 (14/156 vs. 43/144; p<0.0001, I2 = 0%, OR=0.18, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.41). Conclusion: This study suggests that MSCs therapy for COVID-19 has shown some promising results in safety and efficacy. It effectively reduces the high mortality rate of COVID-19 and does not increase the incidence of adverse events.