The effect of diabetes mellitus and end-stage renal disease on the number of CD34+ cells in the blood

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) on the number of stem cells in the peripheral blood. Sixty-two patients diagnosed with ESRD who had not received dialysis previously, 25 patients with a diagnosis of DM without nephropathy, and 21 healthy volunteers were included in the study. The group diagnosed with ESRD was divided into two groups. The first group (DM-CRD) consisted of 28 patients with DM who had developed chronic renal disease (CRD). The second group (NON-DM-CRD) consisted of 34 patients without DM who had CRD by etiology. The routine complete blood count, renal function, and number of CD34+ cells were determined for all of those involved in the study. The microalbumin/creatinine levels were measured, and glomerular filtration rates were calculated in all patients. The number of CD34+ cells was found to be significantly lower in the DM control group and DM-CRD group compared with the healthy group. No statistically significant difference was found between the NON-DM-CRD and the healthy control group. There was a moderate negative correlation between the ratio of microalbumin/creatinine and the number of CD34+ cells. A significant reduction in the number of CD34+ cells was shown in subjects with DM and ESRD caused by diabetic nephropathy. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.