Research Projects

Insulin resistance and diabetes are prevalent due to obesity, unhealthy eating habits, and sedentary lifestyles. Uncontrolled sugar levels can lead to hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiac myopathies, diabetic retinopathy, and nephropathy. Current treatment modalities only provide symptomatic relief, and there is no cure for diabetes. Mitochondrial dysfunction is the major cause of diabetes, causing imbalanced cellular bioenergetics, oxidative stress, inflammation, and impaired metabolic functions. Isolated mitochondria from healthy cells and stem cells have shown therapeutic effects in rat models of myocardial infarction, ischemic heart, stroke, liver injury, and diabetic nephropathy. Preliminary studies have shown that mitochondria isolated from healthy heart, liver, and muscle tissues can reduce blood sugar levels, lipid profile, and blood pressure in diabetic rats. Transplantation of healthy mitochondria rejuvenates cellular bioenergetics by restoring ATP production, cellular metabolism, reduction in reactive oxygen species levels, and inflammation. Mesenchymal stem cells obtained from human umbilical cord/Wharton's Jelly (hWJ-MSCs) are most effective in mitochondria transfer to cardiac and neuronal cells. This study aims to assess the effect of microvesicles packaged with mitochondria and mitochondria isolated from hWJ-MSCs in high fat diet and streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. The researchers will standardize dose, route, duration, and delivery routes, compare their efficacy with mitochondria obtained from healthy rat tissues, and study the effect on tri-carboxylic acid metabolites for both isolated mitochondria and microvesicles treated rats. This study aims to establish microvesicles packaged with mitochondria as a novel cell-free therapeutic strategy for diabetes treatment.