Abstract: Objective To investigate the therapeutic effect of the CD166⁺subpopulation of bone-associated mesenchymal stem cells applied in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods After removing bone marrow cells from the femur and tibia of C57/BL6 mice, we performed collagenase digestion to obtain bone-associated cells, and sorted CD166⁺MSCs using an MSC enrichment kit and a CD166-positive magnetic bead sorting kit. A mouse model of IBD was induced using 3% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS), and the successfully molded mice were equally divided into the CD166⁺MSCs-treated and control groups. Mice in the CD166⁺MSCs-treated group were given an intravenous infusion of CD166⁺MSCs, while the control group was given PBS. The mice were observed daily for bloody stool, and body weight was recorded. After three days of infusion, the colon length of mice in each group was examined, and pathological tissue slices were stained and analyzed to observe the histopathological changes in the colon. Results Compared with the control group, the CD166⁺MSCs-treated group showed significantly less blood in the stool, significantly longer colon length, less destruction of the crypt in pathological tissue slice, more goblet cells, and lower histopathological score. Conclusion Transplantation of CD166⁺MSCs in the IBD disease model resulted in a better therapeutic effect.

Key words: Inflammatory bowel disease, Bone-associated mesenchymal stem cells, CD166