Improving the efficacy of diabetes mellitus treatment by combining cell replacement therapy with immune correction

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease in which the islet b -cells are damaged and unable to produce insulin. Both insulin injection and pancreas/islet grafts offer highly efficient treatments, but they also have many limitations. Stem cell therapy has the potential to overcome these limitations and may offer the best outcomes for treating diabetes mellitus. Based on the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus, stem cell therapy targets two mechanisms, namely cell replacement and immune correction. The aim of this series of studies was to evaluate the efficiency of diabetic treatment by combining cell replacement therapy with immune correction therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) were derived from syngenic mouse bone marrow. Diabetic mice were created by injection of streptozotocin. Diabetic mice were transplanted with HSCs and insulin-producing cells (IPCs) via the tail vein after destroying the bone marrow. The results showed that transplantation of both IPCs and HSCs elicited greater improvements in body weight, blood glucose level and survival time than did transplantation of HSCs or IPCs alone. These findings provide hope for a new strategy that can improve the outcomes of stem cell-based therapy for diabetes in humans.