Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells:breaking the deadlock in the treatment of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome

Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome(MODS)is a clinical syndrome characterized by the dysfunction of two or more systems or organs.This internal environment disorder occurs simultaneously 24 h after severe trauma,shock,or infection.MODS has a high fatality rate ranging from 20%to 100%.[1]In the development of MODS following severe trauma or infection,multiple organ system fail sequentially,involving the lungs,kidneys,liver,cardiovascular,central nervous system,gastrointestinal,immune,and the blood coagulation system.MODS has complex pathogenic factors,and there are four main pathogenesis hypotheses:(1)uncontrolled inflammation hypothesis,(2)ischemia–reperfusion injury,(3)the gastrointestinal hypothesis,and(4)the biphasic preexcitation theory.Although the current clinical treatment methods of MODS,such as inflammatory factor antibodies,highly effective anti-coagulants,renal function replacement therapy,and other treatment methods,have been improved continuously,their effectiveness in MODS treatment is not ideal.Therefore,clinical MODS treatment is faced with great challenges[Figure 1].