Experimental BPD – cells from human umbilical cord blood improve lung development in a double-hit mouse model

Background: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease in neonates with low gestational age and low birth weight. Besides the consequences for the neonatal period, the disease also affects the further development of the patients with lifelong consequences like persistent lung abnormalities. BPD has a multifactorial etiology with main risk factors being prematurity, low birth weight, oxygen therapy or infection. Among other symptoms, “new” BPD often presents with alveolar arrest and impaired lung development. Several studies showed improvement of lung development in rodent models using stem cells…