Purpose: To evaluate the effect of a new mesenchymal stem cell type derived from the neonatal bladder (nMSC-B)
on diabetic bladder dysfunction (DBD).
Materials and Methods: nMSC-B were harvested from neonatal male Sprague-Dawley rat’s bladder and expand- ed in culture. nMSC-B were transferred to Type-1 diabetic rats which were induced by a single dose 45 mg/kg
Streptozocin (STZ). Stem cells were transferred via intraperitoneally (IP) (DM-IP group, n:6) and by direct injec- tion to the detrusor (DM-D group, n:6) at 12th week following diabetes and compared with Phosphate Buffered
Saline (PBS) injected diabetic rats (DM-PBS group, n:6) and age-matched PBS injected non-diabetic normal rats
(NR-PBS group, n:6). All rats were evaluated histopathologically and functionally four weeks after the stem cell
treatment.
Results: nMSC-B showed improvement in both voiding function and bladder structure. The maximum voiding
pressure (MVP) values in the DM-PBS group were lower compare to DM-IP, DM-D and NR-PBS groups (13.27 ±
0.78 vs 16.27 ± 0.61, 28.59 ± 2.09, 21.54 ± 1.00, respectively, P < .001). There was a significant improvement for
MVP values in stem cell-treated groups. Immunohistochemical examination revealed decreased bladder smooth
muscle (SM), increased fibrosis and desquamation in urothelia in diabetic groups compared to normal group(P <
.001). We detected recovery in the stem cell groups. This recovery was more evident in DM-D group. No statisti- cal difference was observed in SM and fibrosis between DM-D and NR-PBS groups (P = .9).
Conclusion: It was shown that nMSCBs provided amelioration of DBD. We think that nMSC-B constitutes an
effective treatment method in DBD
