Disclosed herein is that the systemic administration of ASC conditioned media diminished LPS-induced lung injury by inhibiting epithelial permeability, neutrophil inflammatory response, and secretion of pro-inflammatory TNFα. It is also shown that ARDS lung is able to retain IV-delivered ASC for a substantial amount of time, with no evidence of the significant cell distribution to other organs at this time point. These findings provide optimization of cell-based and cell-free therapy for the treatment of ARDS, including occurrences of ARDS caused by upper respiratory tract infections such as SARS and MERS.
