Bone marrow transplantation might be an effective method to cure type 1 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to investigate whether bone marrow transplantation could reverse hyperglycemia in diabetic mice and whether high-dose total body irradiation followed by high-dose bone marrow mononuclear cell infusion could improve the efficiency of bone marrow transplantation in treating diabetic mice. Diabetic mice after multiple low doses of streptozotocin injection were irradiated followed by infusion with approximately 1×10(7) bone marrow mononuclear cells intravenously. Before and after bone marrow transplantation, fasting blood glucose, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, serum insulin, pancreatic histology, and the examination of insulin and glucagon in islets were processed. All recipients returned to near euglycemic within 1 week after undergoing bone marrow transplantation. No mice became hyperglycemia again during investigation period. The change of serum insulin, glucose tolerance test, pancreatic histology and the expression of insulin and glucagon in recipient islets after bone marrow transplantation all revealed islets regeneration and significant amelioration when compared respectively with those of diabetic mice without bone marrow transplantation. Bone marrow transplantation contributed to reduce blood glucose, prevent further blood glucose hike in diabetic recipients, and promote islets regeneration. High-dose total body irradiation in combination with high-dose bone marrow monoclear cell infusion could improve the efficiency of bone marrow transplantation in treating streptozotocin-induced diabetes.
Keywords: Type 1 diabetes; bone marrow transplantation; streptozotocin; total body irradiation.