Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for treating ischemic stroke / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe any effect of transplanting bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) after ischemic stroke, and explore its mechanism.Methods:Seventy-two spontaneous hypertensive male rats were randomly divided into a sham group, a model group and a BMSCs group, each of 24. A model of middle cerebral artery occlusion was induced in the rats of the model and BMSCs groups but not in the sham group. The BMSCs rats had 106 BMSCs injected into their tail veins 24 hours after the modeling, while the other 2 groups were injected with the same amount of phosphate buffer. Modified neurological deficit scoring and 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazole chloride staining were performed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after the operation. The mRNA and protein expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in the rats′ brain tissues were detected by RT-PCR and western blotting.Results:On the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after the operation, the average neurological deficit score of the BMSCs group was significantly lower and the area of cerebral infarction was significantly smaller than among the model group. Moreover, the infarcted volume in the BMSCs group continued to decrease gradually as time went on. There was no significant difference between the sham and model group in the expression of VEGF or GDNF mRNA or protein 3, 7 or 14 days after the operation. They were, however, significantly higher in the ischemic brain tissue of the BMSCs group compared with the other two groups.Conclusions:BMSC transplantation has a neuroprotective effect on rats with hypertension modeling ischemic stroke. The mechanism may be that BMSCs can up-regulate the expression of VEGF and GDNF in ischemic brain tissue.