Therapeutic effects of conditioned medium from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells with/without deferoxamine-preconditioning on the severe type 1 diabetes model in rats

Abstract

Background & Aim: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease characterized by the irreversible destruction of pancreatic -cells. Impaired T-cell balance and cytokine production play a synergistic role in -cell destruction, resulting in insulin deficiency and hyperglycemia. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are a perfect therapeutic tool for autoimmune diseases with their antiapoptotic, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and immunosuppressive properties. The cells perform these functions paracrinely with the factors they secrete. Considering the disadvantages of cell therapies, it has become important to exploit their therapeutic properties by using the secretomes of MSCs. Conditioned medium (CM) refers to the culture medium in which the cells grow and contains whole secretomes. Inducing cells with external stimuli such as hypoxia could enhance the therapeutic potency of CM by modifying the secretomes of MSCs. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the therapeutic effects of CM obtained from MSCs preconditioned with a hypoxia mimetic agent, deferoxamine (DFS-CM), on the T1D model by comparing it with CM obtained from normal MSCs (N-CM).