Nashwa Fathy El-Tahawy, Rehab Ahmed Rifaai, Entesar Ali Saber, Saadia Ragab Saied and Randa Ahmed Ibrahim
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a global problem and several restoration approaches have been developed to induce beta (β) cells regeneration. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is an autogenous and economical source of growth factors which nowadays used in the tissue repair.
Aim: To test the hypothesis that PRP could play a role in the improvement of the structural changes occurred in the endocrine pancreas of experimentally- induced diabetic rats and the possible mechanisms through which PRP induced its effects to shed a light on the possible use of such application in the clinical field.
Material and methods: Sixty male albino rats were used; 20 for obtaining the PRP and 40 were divided into 4 equal groups (10 rats each): control, PRP-group, diabetic group, PRP/diabetic group. Diabetes was induced by single intra-peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (50-60 mg/kg). The PRP was administered by SC injections in a dose of 0.5 mg/kg twice weekly for 3 weeks.
Results: The diabetic group showed a significant increase in blood glucose levels compared to the control. Treatment with PRP significantly reduced the blood glucose levels compared to the diabetic group. The diabetic group showed variable marked morphological changes which diminished by the PRP administration. PRP/diabetic group had a significant increase in the mean number of pancreatic islets and β-cells/islet compared to the diabetic group. The islet cells appeared normal with scarcely seen vacuolations. The duct system showed several changes; stratifications, invagination of the surface epithelium to the underlying connective tissue, and sprouting of the ductal epithelial cells in between the lobules. Numerous small islets were noticed in a close association with the intralobular ducts. Small newly lobules with abundant connective tissue were organized. There were significant increases in the insulin immunopositive β-cells and PCNA positive cells in PRP/diabetic group compared to diabetic group.
Conclusion: This study provides an evidence of the diabetic pancreatic islet regeneration in response to PRP treatment. The PRP stimulated islet cell regeneration and stimulated the induction of other sources of β-cells generation as the exocrine portion of the pancreas; ductal and acinar cells. In addition, PRP might put the pancreas into an environment similar to the postnatal developmental one where new lobules were formed. These will pave the future for a novel treatment for diabetes.