Allogeneic Transplantation of an Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Sheet Combined With Artificial Skin Accelerates Wound Healing in a Rat Wound Model of Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

One of the most common complications of diabetes is diabetic foot ulcer. Diabetic ulcers do not heal easily due to diabetic neuropathy and reduced blood flow, and nonhealing ulcers may progress to gangrene, which necessitates amputation of the patient's foot. This study attempted to develop a new cell-based therapy for nonhealing diabetic ulcers using a full-thickness skin defect in a rat model of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Allogeneic adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) were harvested from the inguinal fat of normal rats, and ASC sheets were created using cell sheet technology and transplanted into full-thickness skin defects in Zucker diabetic fatty rats. The results indicate that the transplantation of ASC sheets combined with artificial skin accelerated wound healing and vascularization, with significant differences observed 2 weeks after treatment. The ASC sheets secreted large amounts of several angiogenic growth factors in vitro, and transplanted ASCs were observed in perivascular regions and incorporated into the newly constructed vessel structures in vivo. These results suggest that ASC sheets accelerate wound healing both directly and indirectly in this diabetic wound-healing model. In conclusion, allogeneic ASC sheets exhibit potential as a new therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diabetic ulcers.