The Therapeutic Role of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 in a Renal Tissue Engineering Strategy for Diabetic Patients
Figure 5
Plasma and urine protein concentrations following the islet transplantation.
The concentrations of blood creatinine (A), urine creatinine (B), blood urea nitrogen (C) and urine albumin (D). All four proteins in mice from the sham and scaffold groups underwent a significant increase through week 12, suggesting the loss of renal functions. In contrast, transplanted islets in mice from the islet and islet/scaffold groups successfully contained these protein concentrations through week 12. Particularly, on week 12, the blood and urine creatinine concentrations were significantly lower in mice from the islet/scaffold group than those from the islet group, suggesting that the scaffold provided a long-term benefit for islet transplantation. A star indicates a statistical difference among groups at respective time points (n = 5 in all panels). The blue line (islet group) was masked by the teal line (islet/scaffold group) in panel D because the readouts were nearly identical.