Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Limb Ischemia and Diabetic Neuropathy

Several pathophysiological theories have been proposed for the development of diabetic chronic complications. In recent years, the use of stem cells (totipotential, hematopoietic or endothelial lineages) has been reported as an adjunctive modality of treatment for ischemia models in animals and humans. Nevertheless, there are no reports in the use of stem cells for the treatment of human sensorimotor peripheral diabetic neuropathy. We performed this study to evaluate the effect of autologous hematopoietic CD34+ cell transplantation on nerve conduction velocity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.