Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells protects against Aβ-induced impairment partly through up-regulation of expression of neurotrophins / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To investigate the protective effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells ( hUCM-SCs ) against Aβ-induced impairment in rats and the possible mechanism .Methods Male SD rats ( weight 210~230 g ) were divided randomly into five groups with ten in each① control group ( con );② vehicle-control group ( sterile distilled water , v-con );③ hUC-MSCs-control group ( hUCMSCs-con );④ Aβinjury group ( injury );⑤ hUCMSCs treatment group ( hUCM-SCs) .Six-day Morris water maze behavioral task was employed to test the spatial learning and memory of the animals.Neuro-pathological evaluation under thionin stain was performed after behavioral task .The level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) and nerve growth factor ( NGF ) were tested through ELISA .Re-sults hUCMSCs enhanced the cognitive performance of Aβtreated rats, and reversed Aβ-induced cell loss in CA1 hippocampus.On the cellular level, hUCMSCs attenuated Aβinjection induced down-regulation of NGF and BDNF.Conclusion Administration of hUC-MSCs can reverse the behavioral and cellular impair-ment of Aβtreated rats, as well as the down-regulation of neurotrophins , thus exerting a neuronal protective effect, which provides a potential therapeutic strategy for disorders with learning and memory impairment , such as Alzheimer ’ s disease ( AD) .