Figure 3.

Treatment with hUC-MSCs inhibits the frequency of Th2 cells and IgE levels in the periphery. Mice were divided into PBS, OVA, Medium/OVA and MSC/OVA treatment groups. (A) Total IgE levels determined in the different groups. IgE levels in the serum were detected by ELISA and OD450 values are presented. The percentage of IL-4⁺ Th2 cells in (B) blood and (C) MLNs were analyzed using a flow cytometer by gating the CD4⁺ cells. Quantitative analysis on the percentage of Th2 cells in (B) and (C) was also performed. Numbers in the graphs represent the percentage of CD4⁺IL-4⁺ Th2 cells. (D) Weight of the MLNs of mice in the different treatment groups, representative of four independent experiments. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001. hUC-MSC, human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell; Th2, T helper 2 cell; IL, interleukin; OD, optical density; MLN, mesenteric lymph node; OVA, ovalbumin; n.s., not significant; Medium/OVA, group challenged with OVA and administered Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium/nutrient mixture F12; MSC/OVA, group challenged with OVA, intraperitoneal injection of hUC-MSCs and oral gavage of MSC culture supernatant.