Fig. 1
Time courses of circulating levels of BUN and creatinine and the ratio of urine protein to urine creatinine. A By day 0, circulating level of creatinine, p > 0.5. B By day 0, circulating level of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), p > 0.5. C By day 0, the ratio of urine protein to urine creatinine (Ra-Up/Uc), p > 0.5. D By day 28, circulating level of creatinine, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡), p < 0.001. E By day 28, circulating level of BUN, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡), p < 0.001. F By day 28, the Ra-Up/Uc, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡), p < 0.001. G By day 60, the circulating level of creatinine, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡, §), p < 0.0001. H By day 60, circulating level of BUN, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡, §), p < 0.0001. I By day 60, the Ra-Up/Uc, * versus other groups with different symbols (†, ‡, §), p < 0.0001. J By day 7, the blood sugar level (SC vs. all DKD), * versus †, p < 0.0001. K By day 60, the blood sugar level (SC vs. all DKD), * versus †, p < 0.001. All statistical analyses were performed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison post hoc test (n = 6 for each group). Symbols (*, †, ‡, §) indicate significance (at 0.05 level). SC = sham-operated control; DKD = diabetic kidney disease; HUCDMSCLow = human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell of lower dose (2.1 × 105 cells); HUCDMSCHigh = human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell of higher dose (6.3 × 105 cells)