FIG. 1.

Experimental design. All rats were subjected to right nephrectomy to hasten the development of diabetic microglomerulopathy, and were rendered diabetic 2 weeks later by streptozotocin (STZ) 65 mg/kg, i.p. Twelve weeks after STZ injection (to allow the development of overt proteinuria), diabetic (DN) rats were randomly divided into two groups: DN rats treated with physiologic saline (DN, n=11) and DN rats treated with adipose-derived stem cells (DN+ASCs, n=11). Rats that received right nephrectomy without STZ were used as the nephrectomy control group (NX, n=8). Rats were weighed and blood glucose levels were measured every 4 weeks. Urine samples were collected over a 24-h period in individual metabolic cages to measure protein in urine every 4 weeks, using the Bradford method. At the end of the study, 32 weeks after STZ injection, rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital, 50 mg/kg, i.p., and blood samples were drawn from the abdominal aorta for serum creatinine determination.