Treatment of spinal cord injury with intravenous administration of bone marrow stromal cells in rats / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effect of intravenous administration of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) on the functional recovery after spinal cord injury in rats.Methods BMSCs harvested from 10 donor adult Sprague-Dawley rats were isolated,cultured,purified,amplified and labeled with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU ).A total of 66 adult Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to weight-drop impact causing complete paraplegia and randomly divided into three groups seven days after injury.Group A (22 rats) was treated with 2 × 106 BMSCs cultured in 1 ml phosphate-buffered saline by tail vein,Group B (22 rats) was treated with 1 ml Dulbecco' s modified Eagle medium and Group C (22 rats) was set as blank control group.The distribution and differentiation of donor cells in spinal cord were observed in recipient rats by using immunohistochemical staining and expressions of growth associated protein-43 ( GAP-43),neurofilament 200 (NF200) and nestin in the contused spinal cord measured at 2,3 and 6 weeks respectively after injection.The motor function of three groups was evaluated by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan ( BBB) scores at 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 weeks respectively after injection.Results BrdU-reactive cells were mainly distributed through the contused and near regions of spinal cord at 2,3 and 6 weeks after injection.The survived cells in contused spinal cord accounted for 4.9% ,4.4% and 2.6% of the total injection cells at 2,3 and 6 weeks respectively after injection.Two weeks after injection,BMSCs were mainly round or ellipse in shape,12.6% BrdU-reactive cells expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and 5.4% expressed the neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN).The expressions of GAP-43,NF200 and nestin were detected at 2,3 and 6 weeks after injection,with significant higher level in Group A than that in Groups B and C (P<0.05).BBB score in Group A was significantly higher than that in Groups B and C 3-6 weeks after transplantation (P<0.05).Conclusions With intravenous administration after spinal cord injury,BMSCs migrate and survive into contused spinal cord,exhibit site-dependent differentiation,up-regulate the expressions of GAP-43,NF200 and nestin,ameliorate nerve function and can be used for treatment of spinal cord injury.