Comparison between the therapeutic effects of differentiated and undifferentiated Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes

Figure 6 Comparison of pancreatic immunohistochemistry staining in the different treatment groups of diabetic rats. A, B: Pancreas of rats from the normal saline (NS) treatment group (40 ×); C, D: Pancreas of rats from the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) treatment group (40 ×); E, F: Pancreas of rats from the insulin-producing cell (IPC) treatment group (40 ×); G: Intact islets: 0% lymphocyte infiltration, peri-insulitis: < 25% lymphocyte infiltration, intra-insulitis: 25%-50% lymphocyte infiltration, severe insulitis: > 50% lymphocyte infiltration. The percentage of islets free from lymphocyte infiltration was about 7% in rats from the NS treatment group but was 38% in rats from the MSC treatment group (^aP < 0.05). Only 18% of the islets from MSC-treated rats showed severe insulitis compared with 43% of rats from the NS treatment group (^aP < 0.05). NS: normal saline treatment group; MSCs: Undifferentiated Wharton’s jelly-MSCs treatment group; IPCs: Insulin-producing cells treatment group; Red: Human cell nucleus; Brown: Human insulin.