Histological study on the effect of haematopoietic stem cells on the adriamycin model of nephropathy in albino rats

End-stage renal disease is a major health problem. Recent studies have reported the efficacy of stem cell therapy in nephropathy animal models. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of stem cells on renal structure and functions in nephropathy rat models. Thirty male albino rats were divided into three groups: control [I] and nephropathy [II, III] groups. Nephropathy was induced by an intravenous injection of adriamycin. Animals that were found to be nephropathic were divided into two groups: group II [animals were not subjected to treatment] and group III [animals were treated with an intravenous injection of stem cells]. Five weeks after the start of the experiment, urine and blood samples were collected for biochemical investigation and kidney tissue was used for histological examination. The percentages of affected renal tubular cells were calculated, in addition to the area percentage of periodic acid-Schiff-positive material and collagen and their results were statistically analyzed. Adriamycin produced a significant increase in serum urea, creatinine and urinary proteins, with a significant decrease in creatinine clearance and serum albumin. Histological examination showed acute focal tubular necrosis, the renal corpuscles showed thickened membranes, changes in Bowman's capsule parietal cells and effacement of podocyte foot processes and the interstitium showed mononuclear cellular infiltration. A significant increase in damaged tubular cells, area percentage of periodic acid-Schiff-positive material and collagen was also detected. The use of stem cells produced a significant amelioration of all these results. Stem cell transplantation is effective in improving both the structure and the function of kidneys in nephropathic rat models

Physiological assessment of cardiac autonomic reflexes in diabetics

The cardioautonomic reflexes of 77 diabetic subjects and 23 age and sex matched healthy controls were studied using heart rate variation in response to deep breathing, Valsalva maneuver, standing-up and lying down. Also, the decrease in systolic blood pressure in response to standing-up and the increase in diastolic blood pressure during sustained handgrip were assessed. The study concluded that the autonomic nervous system integrity appeared to be greatly affected by diabetes mellitus in comparison with non-diabetic subjects. The degree of impairment was dependent on the progression of age, increase in body weight, duration of the disease and hyperglycemia