Figure 1.
The experimental protocol. Two to four weeks after diabetes induction with a high-fat diet, rats presented with mild microalbuminuria (DN rats) and were divided into the PBS group (PBS infusion), SHED group (4 × 106 cells/rat), and BMSC group (4 × 106 cells/rat infusion). Six DN rats were chosen for cell tracking (4 × 106 GFP-SHED/rat infusion or GFP-BMSCs/rat infusion) with frozen sections. Blood glucose, blood lipids, and body weight were measured before and after administration. At 8 weeks after administration, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy were employed to examine pathological changes, and kidney weight and the serum levels of interleukin- (IL-) 1, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) α, transforming growth factor- (TGF-) β, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were also measured.