Influence of high glucose and AGE environment on the proliferation, apoptosis, paracrine effects, and cytokine expression of human adipose stem cells in vitro

The incidence of delayed wound healing in patients with diabetes has increased in recent years. However, the reason of delayed diabetic wound healing and the changes of human adipose stem cells (hASCs) in the diabetic environment are still unclear. We simulated diabetic microenvironment with high glucose and glycation end products (AGEs) in vitro. CCK-8 and flow cytometry were used to study the proliferation and apoptosis of hASCs in the simulated diabetic microenvironment. The paracrine of hASCs was studied by transwell co-culture system. Protein chip was used to measure the expression of cytokines in hASCs. We found that high glucose and AGEs did not affect the proliferation of hASCs but arrested them in the S phase. More hASCs appeared early apoptosis in the simulated diabetic microenvironment. The promoting effect on the proliferation of fibroblasts and endothelial cells was weakened when hASCs were cultured in diabetic microenvironment for 6 days. The five cell factors, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), were all downregulated in hASCs of AGEs and the high glucose group. In this study, we simulated diabetic microenvironment with high glucose and AGEs in vitro to evaluate the changes of proliferation, apoptosis, paracrine, and cytokine expression of hASCs in the diabetic environment and tried to find the possible reason of delayed diabetic wound healing.