Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are life-threatening diseases in critically ill patients. Although pathophysiology of ALI/ARDS has been investigated in many studies, effective therapeutic strategies are still limited. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy is emerging as a promising therapeutic intervention for patients with ALI. During the last two decades, researchers have focused on the efficacy and mechanism of MSC application in ALI animal models. MSC derived from variant resources exhibited therapeutic effects in preclinical studies of ALI with different mechanisms. Based on this, clinical studies on MSC treatment in ALI/ARDS has been tried recently, especially in COVID-19 caused lung injury. Emerging clinical trials of MSCs in treating COVID-19-related conditions have been registered in past two years. The advantages and potential of MSCs in the defense against COVID-19-related ALI or ARDS have been confirmed. This review provides a brief overview of recent research progress in MSC-based therapies in preclinical study and clinical trials in ALI treatment, as well as the underlying mechanisms.

急性肺损伤（ALI）和急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）是危重患者的危及生命的疾病。尽管许多研究已经对 ALI/ARDS 的病理生理学进行了研究，但有效的治疗策略仍然有限。基于间充质干细胞 (MSC) 的疗法正在成为 ALI 患者的一种有前景的治疗干预措施。在过去的二十年里，研究人员一直关注MSC在ALI动物模型中应用的功效和机制。源自变异资源的MSC在不同机制的ALI临床前研究中表现出治疗效果。基于此，最近尝试了MSC治疗ALI/ARDS的临床研究，特别是针对COVID-19引起的肺损伤。过去两年已经登记了 MSC 治疗 COVID-19 相关疾病的新兴临床试验。MSC 在防御 COVID-19 相关的 ALI 或 ARDS 方面的优势和潜力已得到证实。本文简要概述了基于 MSC 的治疗 ALI 的临床前研究和临床试验的最新研究进展及其潜在机制。