Amniotic Membrane and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Coalescence for Islet Transplantation in Experimental Diabetes in Rats

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of islet cells and mesenchymal stem cells transferred together in the amniotic membrane (AM) in order to preserve the viability and functionality of islet cells on the success of islet transplantation in diabetes mellitus-induced rats.

A total of 80 male Wistar albino rats, aged 3.5-4 months, were included in this study. While 40 Wistar Albino rats were used for the process of islet cell isolation, 40 Wistar Albino rats were used to establish experimental groups. These rats were assigned to five experimental groups including eight rats in each. These groups were AM, amniotic membrane + mesenchymal stem cell (AM + MSC), amniotic membrane + islet cell (AM + IC), amniotic membrane + islet cell + mesenchymal stem cell (AM + IC + MSC), and sham groups. The study was concluded for 28 days.

Although there was no significant difference between AM + IC and AM + IC + MSC groups in terms of mean blood glucose levels, both groups had statistically different values compared to the sham group. A significant difference was observed between the AM + IC and AM + IC + MSC groups in the c-peptide levels before and after transplantation. Immunohistochemical staining illustrated the presence of insulin-positive cells in both AM + IC and AM + IC + MSC groups. Moreover, BrDU (+) cells were determined in AM + IC and AM + IC + MSC groups using BrDU staining.

The study results indicated that transplanting islet cells into the omentum by being packaged in AM preserved their viability and function, leading to significant effects on blood glucose and c-peptide levels.