Cell therapy for diabetic nephropathy: is the future, now?

Cell-based therapy, designed to promote angiogenesis and improve organ function, has been under investigation for the treatment of ischemic heart disease for more than 10 years. Although believed to work primarily by repairing the microvasculature, this form of therapy has not been examined in the setting of chronic kidney disease caused by diabetes in which capillary rarefaction plays a pivotal pathogenetic role. Indeed, despite disease-associated dysfunction, the favorable safety profile of autologous, bone marrow-derived angiogenic cells and their efficacy in animal studies of chronic kidney disease would seem to provide a basis for clinical trials in advanced diabetic nephropathy.