Evaluating the therapeutic effects of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies in combination with an anti-fibrotic agent in experimental models of hypertension

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 11% Australian population, representing an inexorably growing burden to the Australian healthcare system with no effective cure. Recently, researchers have reported human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) as a novel treatment candidate due to their well-established capacity in kidney repairing, this ability, however, can be irreversibly compromised in severe CKD settings due to the build-up of renal fibrosis (scarring). To translate BM-MSC therapy into a definitive cure for two million Australians with CKDs, in this thesis, I evaluated the effectiveness of BM-MSCs combined with a hormone that reduces tissue scarring, relaxin, in managing CKD.