Mesenchymal Stem Cells as a Prospective Therapy for the Diabetic Foot

Figure 3

Mechanism of the effect of transplantation of MSCs on diabetic neuropathy. The mechanism of the recovery effect mediated by stem cell transplantation stems from two pathways: one is the secretion of angiogenic factors, cytokines, and neurotrophic factors and the other is the engraftment and differentiation of the cells into tissue constituents. Stem cells can specifically improve the local secretion and expression of angiogenic factors and cytokines, which contributes to the improvement of diabetic PAD and diabetes itself, in turn leading to the improvement of diabetic neuropathy. Neurotrophic factors can also ameliorate the dysfunction of nerve fibers and nerve conduction. Moreover, stem cells can differentiate into the target tissues to achieve a reparative effect.