In recent years, accumulating experimental evidence supports the notion that diabetic patients may greatly benefit from cell-based therapies, which include the use of adult stem and/or progenitor cells. In particular, mesenchymal stem cells and the circulating pool of endothelial progenitor cells have so far been the most studied populations of cells proposed for the treatment of vascular complications affecting diabetic patients. We review the evidence supporting their use in this setting, the therapeutic benefits that these cells have shown so far as well as the challenges that cell-based therapies in diabetic complications put out.
