Table 1.

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatments against atherosclerosis in animal models.

Reference	MSCs sources/dose	Route	Animal model	Mechanism of MSC action
Fang et al. (75)	Bone marrow	Allogeneic	New Zealand rabbits	PAI-1, hs-CRP, MMPs ↓
	1 × 107 cells	Intra-arterial		Collagen fibers ↑
Wang et al. (76)	Bone marrow	Allogeneic	ApoE−/− mice	CD4+CD25+FOXP3+ Tregs ↑
	107 cells	Intravenous		CD36, SRA ↓
Lin et al. (77)	Bone marrow	Allogeneic	ApoE−/− mice	IL8, MIP-2, eNOS ↑
	2 × 105 cells	Intravenous
Frodermann et al. (78)	Bone marrow	Allogeneic	LDLR−/− mice	Circulating monocytes ↓
	0.5 × 106 cells	Intravenous		CD4+ T cells, CCL2, IFN-γ↓
				TNF-α, serum cholesterol level ↓
				Tregs ↑
Wang et al. (79)	Bone marrow	Allogeneic	New Zealand rabbits	hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, NF-κB ↓
	1 × 107 cells	Intravenous		MMPs, cell apoptosis ↓
				TSG-6, IL-10 ↑
Abdel-Kawi and Hashem (80)	Cord blood	Allogeneic	Albino rats	iNOS ↑
	3 × 106 cells	Intravenous
Li et al. (81)	Skin	Allogeneic	ApoE−/− mice	PGE2, IL-10 ↑
		Intravenous		TNF-α, NF-κB ↓