Preliminary evidence of renal function improvement in chronic progressive kidney disease using autologous CD34+ cell therapy: A clinical trial

Figure 1 The change of estimated glomerular filtration rate before and after cell therapy. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) slope reversed from negative to positive inclination in case 2, 3, and 4 after 1^st cell therapy. The improved eGFR after 1^st cell therapy was almost maintained after 2^nd cell therapy for three months. eGFR slope slightly improved after 1^st cell therapy in case 1 (patient with the lowest eGFR, highest amount of proteinuria, and lowest purity of administered CD34⁺ cells among four patients). However, it did not change to positive inclination. eGFR: Estimated glomerular filtration rate.

Figure 2 Monthly change of estimated glomerular filtration rate at pretreatment and 6 months after cell therapy. Delta estimated glomerular filtration rate/month improved from negative to positive values in case 2, 3, and 4 after cell therapy. Delta estimated glomerular filtration rate/month in case 1 slightly improved. However, it was still negative value. eGFR: Estimated glomerular filtration rate.

Figure 3 Ultrasonographic findings before and after cell therapy. A: Resistive index at pretreatment and 6 months after cell therapy; B: Shear wave velocity at pretreatment and 6 months after cell therapy. Both intra-renal resistive index and shear wave velocity significantly improved at 6 months after 1^st cell therapy compared to pretreatment values. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01.