Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of various concentrations of glucose and glutamine on the cultivation of human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells(hUC-MSCs) in vitro.Methods The hUC-MSCs were separated and cultured.The morphology and surface antigens were investigated by optical microscopy and flow cytometry.Then hUC-MSCs were cultured with various concentrations of glucose and glutamine in vitro.Cells on microcarriers were counted by crystal violet staining.The nutrients and their by-products in the medium supernatant were measured.Results The markers of CD29,CD44,CD105,and CD90 were strongly expressed in hUC-MSCs,but the markers of CD14 and CD45 were not.With the increase of glucose concentration,the expansion of cells increased,glucose consumption,lactate formation and glutamine consumption had no change,and the ammonium formation improved.The increase of glutamine concentration had a limited effects to improving cell proliferation,but it shorted the culture period as improving growth rate.The increase of glutamine concentration had no effect on the consumption of glucose and glutamine,but improved the formation of lactate and ammonium.Conclusion Glucose and glutamine both enhanced cell proliferation.Lack of glucose results in the larger consumption of amino acids to provide nitrogen,and large supply of glutamine leads to the larger formation of lactate from glutamine.

Key words: Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells, Glucose, Glutamine, Growth, Metabolism