Green tea epigallocatechin gallate enhances cardiac function restoration through survival signaling expression in diabetes mellitus rats with autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells.

The present study tests a hypothesis that cardioprotective effects mediated by autologous adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) in rats afflicted with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) may be synergistically enhanced by oral treatment with green tea epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Wistar rats were divided into sham, DM, DM + ADSC (autologous transplanted 1 x 10(6) cells per rat), and DM + ADSC + E (E, green tea oral administration EGCG). Heart tissues were isolated from all rats, and investigations were performed after 2-mo treatment. In the sham, DM, and DM + ADSC groups, we found that DM induced cardiac dysfunction (sham and DM) and autologous ADSC transplantation could partially recover cardiac functions (DM and DM + ADSC) in DM rats. Compared with DM + ADSC, significant improvement in cardiac functions can be observed in DM + ADSC + E in echocardiographic data, histological observations, and even cellular protein expression. Oral green tea EGCG administration and autologous ADSC transplantation show synergistically beneficial effects on diabetic cardiac myopathy in DM rats. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Cardiomyopathy can be induced in rats with diabetes mellitus (DM). Heart function can be restored in DM rats with adipose-derived stem cell treatment. Oral epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) administration synergistically enhances cardiac function in DM rats with stem cell treatment. The EGCG and stem cell treatment cross-effect occurs via survival protein expression.