Intravenous vs intraperitoneal transplantation of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton's jelly in the treatment of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficiency of mesenchymal stem cells isolated from Wharton's jelly (WJ-MSCs) through either the intravenous or intraperitoneal transplantations into streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats as a therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).


METHODS
A rat model with STZ induction was established and the rats were divided into 3 groups: a tail vein injection group, an intraperitoneal injection group and a STZ control group. Following transplantation, blood glucose levels were monitored weekly then the pancreatic tissues were collected to examine the pancreatic islets by histopathology and morphometric studies.


RESULTS
Intravenous transplantation of WJ-MSCs ameliorated hyperglycemia at day 7 after transplantation, with sustained decreased fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels until day 56. Further, these cells ameliorated at least partially the damage induced by STZ in the pancreas and produced a similar morphology to normal islets. On the contrary, intraperitoneal transplantation of WJ-MSCs failed to maintain normoglycemia or ameliorate the damaged pancreas in STZ-injected rats.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings conclude that the intravenous administration method was effective in transplanting WJ-MSCs for the treatment of T1DM, whereas the intraperitoneal transplantation showed no therapeutic effect in our animal experiments.
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. Electronic address: nancyelhossary@gmail.com.
Nancy
N
El-Hossary
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Hamdy
H
Hassanein
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Abdel Wahab
AW
El-Ghareeb
Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt; Cell Safe Cord Blood Bank, Dar El Mona Health Care Resort, Giza, Egypt.
Hisham
H
Issa
D000818:Animals; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000145:classification*; D051381:Rats; D013311:Streptozocin / Q000633:toxicity; D014470:Umbilical Cord; D059631:Wharton Jelly / Q000166:cytology*
D013311:Streptozocin
Intraperitoneal; Intravenous; Mesenchymal stem cell; Transplantations; Type 1 diabetes; Wharton’s jelly