Cord Blood Used to Heal Diabetic Wounds

In Korea, stem cell researchers have discovered that umbilical cord blood can be used to accelerate the healing of wounds in diabetic animal subjects.

Diabetic patients are often prone to foot ulcers which can result in amputations. Statistics state that every 30 seconds, a person must have a lower extremity amputated as a result of developing diabetic wounds. Foot amputations are actually ten-times more common in diabetic patients than in those that do not have the disease. (http://diabetes.webmd.com/features/diabetes-wounds-caring-sores)

To help cut down on the number of amputations that take place in diabetic patients, the application of umbilical cord blood may be a useful solution. The endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs)are used to rebuild and repair damaged tissue, a characteristic which is extremely useful for those suffering from diabetes-related ulcers.

As part of the study, researchers transplanted EPCs into mice that had diabetes-related wounds. The transplantation of the cells prompted the wounds to heal and resulted in faster healing of the subjects’ wounds.

Although the study was only carried out on animal subjects, the success of the experiment may lead to practical applications of cord blood in the treatment in diabetic wounds.