Introduction: Stem cell-based therapies have the potential effectivity in many human diseases including retinal disorders. They have been proven to be safe and effective in a wide range of immune-mediated diseases.
Aim of the work: To investigate the effectiveness of ADMSCs in the prevention of retinal damage after induction of diabetes.
Material and methods: Forty adult male rats were divided into three groups; Group I: subdivided into negative and positive control. Group II: received a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (50 mg/kg), freshly dissolved in 0.9% saline solution. Blood glucose levels were measured two days after STZ injection, and rats with glucose levels ≥ 250 mg/dl were considered diabetic and used in the study. Group III: received STZ, in the same previous dose, then the diabetic rats were injected intravenously with 0.5 ml ADMSCs (1×107 cells/ml) suspended in phosphate-buffered saline. After four weeks, retinal specimens were prepared for histological and immunohistochemical studies.
Results: The retina of STZ-treated group showed poorly-developed basal infoldings of RPE cells, distorted lamellar discs of photoreceptor outer segments, loss of cellular elements in the outer nuclear layer, inner nuclear layer and ganglion cell layer, and apoptosis. After ADMSCs administration, there was improvement in the retinal structure. There was highly significant decrease in the area percent of caspase-3 in cells of all retinal layers, compared to the diabetic group, and no difference was found when compared with the control group.
Conclusion: ADMSCs was proved to be effective in the prevention of retinopathy in experimentally-induced diabetic rat model. This might represent a valuable tool for stem cell-based therapy in the future.