Objectives: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is associated with neurogenic muscle atrophy. The development of successful therapies for nerve damage and muscle atrophy must be needed for patients with DPN. In this study, we investigated the effects of dental pulp stem cell (DPSC) transplantation on skeletal muscles in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.

Methods: DPSCs were isolated and expanded from dental pulp of 6-wk old Sprague-Dawley rats. Cultured DPSCs were transplanted into the unilateral hindlimb skeletal muscles of normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Four weeks after DPSC transplantation, the impacts of DPSC transplantation on hindlimb skeletal muscles and peripheral nerves were examined.

Results: Diabetic rats showed significant decreased the muscle fiber cross-sectional area and increased the CD68-positive inflammatory cell infiltration in gastrocnemius muscles, which were ameliorated by DPSC transplantation. Gene expression analyses revealed that DPSC transplantation increased PGC1α and suppressed atrogin-1 and TNF-α in diabetic skeletal muscles. DPSC transplantation significantly ameliorated decreased-FGF2 gene expression with the improvement of motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities in diabetic rats.

Conclusions: We identified that DPSC transplantation into hindlimb skeletal muscle could ameliorate diabetic muscle atrophy and inflammation and improve diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Disclosure

K. Naruse: None. M. Omi: None. M. Hata: None. N. Nakamura: None. M. Miyabe: None. S. Sasajima: None. R. Ozaki: None. S. Ozawa: None. J. Takebe: None. T. Matsubara: None.

© 2024 by the American Diabetes Association
2024
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