ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the effects of human EP cells (hEPCs)transplantation on the function recovery of rats with spinal cord injury.Methods 24 SD rats (5 ones died in the process of operation)were firstly completed transection of T10 segment of spinal cord by using quick knife slices to complete animal model.19 rats after spinal cord transection were randomly divided into:the experimental group (10 cases)and the control group (9 cases). The experimental group with spinal cord injury was injected 7.5μL suspension of hEPCs (human Endothelial Progeni-tor Cells).Adjacent area of spinal cord injury in control group was injected equal amount DMEM(Dulbecco minimum essential medium.Postoperative intraperitoneal injection of cyclosporine A,an immunosuppressant,was administrated daily.At postoperative 1,2,4,6,8 weeks Basso Beatlie Bresnahan (BBB)score were administrated to record the neural function recovery of lower limbs in SCI rats.The transection spinal cord were removed from rats 8 weeks after operation to detect transplanted survival hEPCs in transection spinal cord of ratsby immunohistochemical and hybridization technique. Results 2 weeks after SCI model established,the BBB scores in the experimental group and the control group showed no statistically significant difference(t =0.61,0.69,all P >0.05).4 weeks postoperatively,the BBB score of the experimental group (1.67 -0.71)points was more than that in the control group (1.11 -0.60),the difference was statistically significant(t =3.16,P <0.05).Untill 8 weeks scores were respectively the (4.00 -1.41)of the experimental group and the (1.44 -0.89)of the control group,the difference was statistically significant(t =5.384,P <0.05). Finally it was concluded that 4,6,8 weeks after SCI,hind limbs function of the experimental group was significantly better than that of the control group,the difference had statistical significance (P <0.05).Hybridization and immuno-histochemical detection showed that the transplanted hEPCs not only live in the host but in partial hEPCs chimeric to SCI in rats of spinal cord and its vascular system.Conclusion After transplantation,hEPCs can survive,differentiate into vascular endothelial cell,and improvement spinal cord function recovery as compared with control group.