Effects of spike wave electric stimulation on the transplantation of autogenous marrow mesenchymal stem cells in rats with spinal cord injury / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate whether the implanted spike wave electrical stimulation (ES) can improve survival of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after transplantation in spinal cord injury (SCI) rats. MethodsIn the study,60 male SD rats were used to prepare the SCI induced by a digital weight drop apparatus.The MSCs from each rat' s femurs were collected and then labeled by Bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu) seven days after SCI.The rats were randomly assigned into four groups,ie,group A (receiving a transplantation of MSCs only),group B (receiving electro-stimulant therapy only),group C ( receiving a transplation of MSCs and electro-stimulant therapy) and the control group ( receiving a single injection of phosphate buffer solution,PBS).Functional status was assessed regularly before and after SCI by using the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor rating score and somatosensory evoked potential (SEP).The recovery of spinal cord was checked by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the survivorship of the labeled MSCs was observed with immunohistochemical method. Results BBB score of group C demonstrated significant difference in comparison with that of the other three groups ( P ＜ 0.05 )and was significantly higher than that of the control group (P ＜0.01 ) four weeks after surgery,which indicated an obvious functional improvement of the extremity mobility in group C.At the 8th week postoperatively,SEP study displayed significant difference in group C from the other three groups in terms of latency and wave amplitude (P ＜0.05 ),indicating the fast neurofunctional recovery of the spinal cord in group C.MR images of the spinal cords by DTI showed the same outcome.Immunohistochemistry confirmed a large number of the labeled MSCs positive cells in the lesion site of group C.ConclusionTheimplanted spike wave ES promotes the bioactivity and survival of MSCs and improves the therapeutic effect in combination with MSCs transplantation.