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World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2026; 18(10): 122760
Published online Oct 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.122760
Published online Oct 26, 2026. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.122760
Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells repair islet structure and function in diabetic rats through metabolic reprogramming
Jian Xu, Ying Liu, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second People’s Hospital of Xiangtan City, Xiangtan 411100, Hunan Province, China
Xia Yang, Hai-Yan Zhang, Li-Li Wang, Yuan-Dong Luo, Xue-Feng Yang, Department of General Practice, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421002, Hunan Province, China
Shuo-Liang Yang, Ya-Jing Zhou, Xue-Feng Yang, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang 421002, Hunan Province, China
Co-first authors: Jian Xu and Xia Yang.
Co-corresponding authors: Ying Liu and Xue-Feng Yang.
Author contributions: Xu J, Yang X, Liu Y, and Yang XF participated in experimental design, animal experiments, and paper writing; Xu J and Yang X made equal contributions to the study and were listed as co-first authors. Liu Y and Yang XF contributed equally and served as corresponding authors. Zhang HY, Wang LL, Luo YD, Yang SL, and Zhou YJ were involved in data analysis. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
AI contribution statement: Portions of this manuscript were edited using AI tools solely for language refinement. The authors carefully reviewed and verified all AI-assisted outputs and take full responsibility for the scientific content of the manuscript.
Supported by the Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation, No. 2026JJ81776, No. 2026JJ80142, and No. 2026JJ81116; and the National Key Specialty Major Scientific Research Project of the Hunan Provincial Health Commission, No. Z2023158.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China (Approval No. 2024-KY-236).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Hunan Evidence-Based Biotechnology Co. Ltd. (Research Collaborating Institution of the Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China) (Approval No. 2024-XZSW-240301).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
Corresponding author: Xue-Feng Yang, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Nanhua Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, No. 336 Dongfeng South Road, Zhuhui District, Hengyang 421002, Hunan Province, China.
Received: April 28, 2026
Revised: July 27, 2026
Accepted: October 8, 2026
Published online: October 26, 2026
Processing time: 182 Days and 4 Hours
Revised: July 27, 2026
Accepted: October 8, 2026
Published online: October 26, 2026
Processing time: 182 Days and 4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prevalent metabolic disease. This study investigated the treatment efficacy of the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) in repairing diabetic rat islets and the potential underlying mechanisms. Results showed that hUC-MSCs lowered blood glucose, improved insulin secretion and islet structure, and regulated pancreatic lipid and amino acid metabolism. Thirty key differential metabolites were identified as potential diagnostic and treatment efficacy prediction biomarkers. The results indicate that hUC-MSCs protects islets and improves glucose metabolism in DM by regulating pancreatic metabolism.