Effect of umbilical cord blood stem cells on blood glucose levels and PDX-1 and MafA levels in type 1 diabetic rats / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Type 1 diabetes mel itus is an autoimmune disease, which is characterized as the selective destruction of pancreatic beta cel s in the body, resulting in the lack of insulin secretion. Umbilical cord blood stem cel s have the potential to differentiate into islet cel s in vitro and in vivo, which play a certain hypoglycemic effect. OBJECTIVE:To explore the effects of umbilical cord blood stem cel s on blood glucose levels and PDX-1 and MafA levels in the pancreatic tissue of type 1 diabetic rats. METHODS:Thirty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, with 10 rats in each group. In treatment and model groups, type 1 diabetes mel itus modes were established. After modeling, the treatment group was given a single tail vein injection of umbilical cord blood stem cel s;the normal control group was given the same volume of normal saline;the model group was given the same volume of umbilical cord blood stem cel buffer solution. Oral glucose tolerance test was adopted to assess the islet function of rats;hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pancreatic morphology of rats;western blot and PCR methods were employed to detect expressions of PDX-1 and MafA in pancreatic tissues at protein and mRNA levels. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) Compared with the normal control group, the levels of blood glucose in the model and treatment groups were significantly higher at 0, 30, 60, 90 minutes (P0.05). (2) The number of islets in the model group was decreased, and the boundary was unclear and irregular;in the treatment group, the number of islets was decreased, but the boundary was stil clear. (3) The expressions of PDX-1 and MafA in the treatment group were similar to those in the normal control group (P>0.05), but significantly higher than those in the model group (P<0.05). These findings suggest that the umbilical cord blood stem cel transplantation can significantly reduce the blood glucose levels in type 1 diabetic rats, improve the function of islet and morphology of pancreas, and up-reuglate the expressions of PDX-1 and MafA.