RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) transplantation in the expression of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) in spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats. METHODS: BMMNCs were isolated from tibia and femur by a density gradient centrifugation. After establishment of acute transection SCI, rats were divided into experiment (BMMNCs), experiment control (0.1 M PBS infused) and sham surgery groups (laminectomy without any SCI). Locomotor function was assessed weekly for 5 weeks post-injury using BBB locomotor score and urinary bladder function daily for 4 weeks post-injury. Activity of NF-kappaB in spinal cord was assessed by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: At each time point post-injury, sham surgery group had significantly higher Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan locomotor and urinary bladder function scores than experiment and experiment control group (p<0.05). At subsequent time interval there were gradual improvement in both experiment and experiment control group, but experiment group had higher score in comparison to experiment control group (p<0.05). Comparisons were also made for expression of activated NF-kappaB positive cells and level of NF-kappaB messenger RNA in spinal cord at various time points between the groups. Activated NF-kappaB immunoreactivity and level of NF-kappaB mRNA expression were significantly higher in control group in comparison to experiment and sham surgery group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: BMMNCs transplantation attenuates the expression of NF-kappaB in injured spinal cord tissue and thus helps in recovery of neurological function in rat models with SCI.