Stem Cells Versus Diabetic Ulcers
As the necessary techniques and technologies for the use of stem cells spread and reduce in cost, specialists in all sorts of fields experiment more readily with regenerative medicine. An example can be found at Medical News Today: "Every 30 minutes a diabetic patient loses the use of his bottom limb due to the ulceration of tissues that degenerates into a necrosis, which is a typical side effect of this disease. ... We employed a murine model that can develop ulcers similar to those observed in humans. Then we administered a specific subpopulation of [vascular progenitor cells] VPCs and, a week after the treatment, we checked what was the overall effect on the ulcers. We observed that the treated lesions had become thinner and smaller compared to the untreated ones, and that they were surrounded by a number of newborn capillaries, indicating that a regeneration process was ongoing ... scientists noticed that VPCs stimulated cellular proliferation and inhibited cellular apoptosis, a defensive mechanism which is active also in necrotic tissues that the organism resorts to when it is unable to heal damages."
Link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=59712