Fig. 2

The effects of MSC injection on mouse body weights and blood glucose levels. A Experimental protocol for the MSC injection on db/db mice. Db/db mice of 14–16 weeks old were injected with human UC-MSCs, PU-MSCs, AD-MSCs, or PBS every 2 weeks (3 injections in 6 weeks). “L (low)”, “M (medium)”, and “H (high)” represent the doses of injected cells (0.25 × 10⁶, 0.5 × 10⁶, and 1.0 × 10⁶ cells per mice, respectively). Fasting blood glucose levels and body weights of the indicated groups were monitored every week during the whole experiment period. GTT and ITT was performed on the indicated groups to assess glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity every 2 weeks during the whole experiment period. GTT was performed 2 days after ITT to achieve a stable physiological state of the animal. Metformin was given orally to animals in separate groups (MET) once a day at weeks 4 to 6. All the animals were sacrificed at day 42, and the tissue was collected for other indicated tests. B At the beginning of the experimental procedure, db/db mice were randomly assigned in indicated groups and the blood glucose levels and body weight were recorded. C, D Fasting glucose level and body weights were monitored during 6 weeks. The glucose level of the MET group in the three charts from C is derived from the same set of data. Non-diabetic (ND) wild-type mice were included as healthy controls. E Blood glucose levels from the last time of GTT among the indicated groups after three injections of MSCs. After fasting for 16 h, blood was collected from the tale vein (time point 0), then the mice were intraperitoneally injected with glucose solution (2 g/kg). Blood was collected at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min for blood glucose determination. Non-diabetic (ND) wild-type mice were included as healthy controls. F AUC of all 4 times of GTT are illustrated among the indicated groups. All the results are expressed as the means ± S.E.M. n = 6 mice per group. ^*P<0.05, ^**P<0.01, ^***P<0.001 vs vehicle. The colors of asterisks are consistent with the respective treatment groups and indicate the statistical significance versus the vehicle group. Significances between different doses of MSCs of the same tissue origin were indicated as ^#P<0.05, ^##P<0.01. Two-way ANOVA