Cistanche deserticola plus bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation for treating spinal cord injury in rats / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells under certain conditions can differentiate into nerve cells. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem celltransplantation can rebuild nervous system function and improve functional disorders in patients. Glycosides of cistanche also have a protective effect against nerve cellinjury. Their combination has been less reported. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effectiveness of Cistanche deserticola and bone marrow mesenchymal stem celltransplantation on spinal cord injury in rats. METHODS:Fifty adult Wistar rats with spinal cord injury were randomly divided into four groupa Cistanche deserticola group (intragastric administration of 20 mL/kg Cistanche deserticola concentrated solution per day), a celltransplantation group (10μL of 1×108/L bone marrow mesenchymal stem cellsuspension), a combination group (10μL of 1×108/L bone marrow mesenchymal stem cellsuspension+intragastric administration of 20 mL/kg Cistanche deserticola concentrated solution per day) and a control group (intragastric administration of 20 mL/kg normal saline per day). The intragastric administration lasted for 30 days in each group. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:After 30 days of treatment, the expression of Nestin was significantly higher in the combination group than the other groups. After 12 weeks, Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan scores was significantly higher in the combination group than the other groups (P<0.05);somatosensory and motor evoked potential latencies were also improve significantly in the combination group compared with the other groups (P<0.05). These findings indicate that oral administration of Cistanche deserticola combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can significantly improve the motor and neurophysiological function of spinal cord injury rats. Cistanche deserticola can improve the survival of transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in rats with spinal cord injury.