Role of autologous mesenchymal stem cells associated with platelet-rich plasma on healing of cutaneous wounds in diabetic mice

BACKGROUND: Chronic cutaneous lesions affect 15% of human patients with diabetes, and the associated risk of limb amputations is 15-46 times greater than that of people with normal glycaemia. It is estimated that half of these limb amputations could be avoided by opportune treatment with somatic stem cells or platelet-rich plasma (PRP). METHODS: We evaluated the effects of autologous transplant of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with or without combination with autologous PRP in the re-epithelialization of cutaneous lesions induced in diabetic mice. RESULTS: Animals treated with MSCs alone showed a similar level of re-epithelialization of cutaneous lesions to those treated with MSC plus PRP, and no significant difference was found between the two treatments. CONCLUSION: Both treatments gave better results than daily cleaning of the cutaneous lesions with saline or covering of the lesions with semipermeable adherent bandage.