Bone marrow cells are a source of undifferentiated cells to prevent Sjögren's syndrome and to preserve salivary glands function in the non-obese diabetic mice

Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice develop Sjögren's-like syndrome (Ss) and a gradual loss of saliva secretory function. Our previous study showed that injections of matched normal spleen cells with Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) reversed salivary gland dysfunction in 14-week-old NOD mice, which had established Ss. The spleen and bone marrow are closely related organs, and both are among the first sites of hematopoiesis during gestation. Noticing a rapidly increasing number of clinical trials using bone marrow (BM) cells treatments for autoimmune diseases, we tested if BM cells can prevent Ss and restore salivary glands’ function. We injected CFA and MHC class I-matched normal BM cells in 7-week-old NOD mice, which had not yet developed Ss. We found at week 52 post-treatment that all NOD mice receiving BM cells and CFA had a recovery of salivary flow and were protected from Ss and diabetes. BM cells-treated mice had their salivary function restored quantitatively and qualitatively. Saliva flow was higher (p < 0.05) in BM cells-transplanted mice when compared to control mice, which continued to deteriorate over time. Total proteins, epidermal growth factor, amylase, and electrolytes concentrations in saliva of BM cells-treated mice were not significantly changed at week 44 and 52 post-therapy when compared to pre-therapy (when the mice did not have Ss). Restoration of salivary flow could have resulted from a combination of rescue and paracrine effects from BM cells. This study suggests that a combined immuno- and cell-based therapy can permanently prevent Ss and restored salivary function in NOD mice.