Transplantation of dental pulp stem cells improves long-term diabetic polyneuropathy together with improvement of nerve morphometrical evaluation

BACKGROUND: Although previous reports have revealed the therapeutic potential of stem cell transplantation in diabetic polyneuropathy, the effects of cell transplantation on long-term diabetic polyneuropathy have not been investigated. In this study, we investigated whether the transplantation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) ameliorated long-term diabetic polyneuropathy in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: Forty-eight weeks after STZ injection, we transplanted DPSCs into the unilateral hindlimb skeletal muscles. Four weeks after DPSC transplantation (i.e., 52 weeks after STZ injection) the effects of DPSC transplantation on diabetic polyneuropathy were assessed. RESULTS: STZ-induced diabetic rats showed significant reductions in the sciatic motor/sensory nerve conduction velocity, increases in the current perception threshold, and decreases in capillary density in skeletal muscles and intra-epidermal nerve fiber density compared with normal rats, all of which were ameliorated by DPSC transplantation. Furthermore, sural nerve morphometrical analysis revealed that the transplantation of DPSCs significantly increased the myelin thickness and area. DPSC-conditioned media promoted the neurite outgrowth of dorsal root ganglion neurons and increased the viability and myelin-related protein expression of Schwann cells. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that the transplantation of DPSCs contributed to the neurophysiological and neuropathological recovery from a long duration of diabetic polyneuropathy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0729-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.