Possible Reparative Effect of Stromal Vascular Fraction on Parotid Gland Injury Following Streptozotocin Induced Diabetes Mellitus. Histological Study in Adult Male Rat Model

Background and aim of work: Diabetes mellitus (DM) adversely affects various organs, including the parotid gland. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of adipose tissue derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) on parotid gland injury in diabetic adult male albino rat model.
Materials and methods: Thirty two rats were divided into the following groups: donor group, group I (control), group II (untreated diabetic), rats were injected IP with a single dose of STZ (50 mg/kg) then left untreated), and group III (SVF-treated diabetic), rats were treated as group II in addition to a single IP injection of SVF at a dose of 1.5 × 106 cells/ rat on the 7th day of STZ injection). Assessment of the parotid gland weight, biochemical analysis of tissue MDA & GSH levels, RBS, salivary glucose & α-amylase levels and salivary flow rate were done. Parotid sections were stained with HE, toluidine blue, masson trichrome, PAS, and immunostaining for BCL-2 and AQP-5. Morphometric and statistical analysis was also done.
Results: Biochemical & histological results demonstrated significant improvement in SVF-treated diabetic group compared to the untreated diabetic group. SVF treatment led to reduced levels of inflammatory markers, restored antioxidant enzyme activity, and improved glucose metabolism in the parotid gland. In addition to restoration of normal histological features of most acini. However, some acini exhibited some cells with pyknotic dark nuclei & vacuolated cytoplasm and non-clear basement membranes.
Conclusion: SVF treatment mostly restored parotid gland normal histological structure in diabetic rats suggesting the potential use of SVF in mitigating diabetes-induced damage in the parotid gland.