Electrical Muscle Stimulation Induces an Increase of VEGFR2 on Circulating Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Patients With Diabetes.

Purpose: External electric muscle stimulation (EMS) of the thigh muscles was found to reduce pain resulting from diabetic neuropathy (DN), a vascular complication of diabetes. This study investigated circulating hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) after EMS treatment. Impaired function of HSCs and the subpopulation endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), important for neovascularization and endothelial repair, has been associated with DN.