Comparison of muscle-derived stem

Abstract

Introduction: The skeletal muscle-derived stem/progenitor cells (MDSPCs) have been thoroughly investigated in preclinical studies. However, the therapeutic potential of MDSPCs for acute kidney injury (AKI) has only been evaluated by our research group. We aimed to compare MDSPCs with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and to evaluate their feasibility for the treatment of AKI. Materials and methods: Four groups of rats were used: healthy controls, AKI group, AKI treated with MDSPCs, AKI treated with BM-MSCs. AKI was induced by gentamicin (80 mg/kg/day; i.p.) for 7 consecutive days. PKH-26-labeled MDSPCs and BM-MSCs (1X106 cells/animal) were injected intravenously 24 hours after the last gentamicin injection. Physiological and histological kidney parameters were determined on day 0, 8, 14, 21, 28, 35 (6 animals per time point). Results: Both, MDSPCs and BM-MSCs accelerated functional kidney recovery and regeneration, as reflected by significantly lower serum creatinine levels and renal injury scoring, higher urinary creatinine and GFR levels (p<0.05) compared with the nontreated AKI group. PKH-26 labelled MDSPCs and BM-MSCs were present in the renal cortex on day 9, day 21 and day 35, indicating the capacity of both cell types to migrate and populate the renal tissue. There was no significant difference in any parameters between MDSPCs and BM-MSCs at any time point (p>0.05). Conclusion: Both, MDSPCs and BM-MSCs are capable of mediating functional and histological kidney recovery after AKI. MDSPCs were found equivalent to BM-MSCs, therefore can be considered as a potential candidate for the treatment of AKI.