Stem cell transplantation and functional recovery after spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis / 대한해부학회지

Spinal cord injury is a significant cause of motor dysfunctions. There is no definite cure for it, and most of the therapeutic modalities are only symptomatic treatment. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the effectiveness of stem cell therapy in the treatment of the spinal cord injuries in animal models was studied and evaluated. A systematic search through medical databases by using appropriate keywords was conducted. The relevant reports were reviewed in order to find out cases in which inclusion and exclusion criteria had been fulfilled. Finally, 89 articles have been considered, from which 28 had sufficient data for performing statistical analyses. The findings showed a significant improvement in motor functions after cell therapy. The outcome was strongly related to the number of transplanted cells, site of injury, chronicity of the injury, type of the damage, and the induction of immune-suppression. According to our data, improvements in functional recovery after stem cell therapy in the treatment of spinal cord injury in animal models was noticeable, but its outcome is strongly related to the site of injury, number of transplanted cells, and type of transplanted cells.

Chronic ritalin administration during adulthood increases serotonin pool in rat medial frontal cortex

Ritalin has high tendency to be abused. It has been the main indication to control attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The college students may seek for it to improve their memory, decrease the need for sleep [especially during exams], which at least partially, can be related to serotonergic system. Therefore, it seems worthy to evaluate the effect of Ritalin intake on mature brain. There are many studies on Ritalin effect on developing brain, but only few studies on adults are available. This study was undertaken to find Ritalin effect on serotonin transporter [SERT] density in medial frontal cortex [MFC] of mature rat. Thirty male Wistar rats were used in the study. Rats were assigned into five groups [n = 6 per group]: one control, two Ritalin and two vehicle groups. Twelve rats received Ritalin [20 mg/kg/twice a day] orally for eleven continuous days. After one week of withdrawal and another two weeks of rest, in order to evaluate short-term effects of Ritalin, six rats were sacrificed. Another six rats were studied to detect the long-term effects of Ritalin; therefore, they were sacrificed 12 weeks after the previous group. The immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate the results. Immunohistochemistry studies showed a higher density of SERT in both 2 and 12 weeks after withdrawal from Ritalin intake in MFC of rat and there was no significant difference between these two groups. Our findings demonstrated both short- and long-term effects of Ritalin on frontal serotonergic system after withdrawal period