Background: We first determined the efficacy of lesional injection of tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of 5-fluorouracil induced oral mucositis.
Methods: Oral mucositis was induced in hamsters by administration of 5-fluorouracil (day 0, 2, 4) followed by mechanical trauma (day 1, 2, 4). The experimental groups included MT (mechanical trauma only), 5-FU+MT (mechanical trauma with 5-fluorouracil administration), TMSC (mechanical trauma with 5-fluorouracil administration, tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells injection), DEXA (mechanical trauma with 5-fluorouracil administration, dexamethasone injection), and saline (mechanical trauma with 5-fluorouracil administration, saline injection).
Results: On day 10, gross and histologic analyses showed that nearly complete healing and epithelialization of the cheek mucosa of the TMSC group, whereas the other groups showed definite ulcerative lesions. Compared with the MT and DEXA groups, CD31 expression was greater in the TMSC group on days 10 and 14. In addition, the TMSC group showed higher expression of TGF-β, and NOX4 on day 10 compared with the other groups.
Conclusion: Intralesional administration of tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells may accelerate wound healing of 5-fluorouracil induced oral mucositis by upregulating neovascularization and effective wound contraction.