Effect of allogenic adipose-derived stem cell transplantation on bone mass in ovariectomized female rats / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of transplantation of allogenic adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) on bone metabolic markers and bone histomorphometry in ovariectomized (ovx) female rats.Methods Thirty female nonpregnant Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groupsthe ovx group (n=20) and sham operated group (n=10).Three months after operation,two rats in each group were randomly sacrificed for ovariectomized osteoporosis model assessment.The serum levels of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRACP) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The pathological changes of femur were observed by HE staining.After animal model was developed,the rest of the rats in the ovx group were further subdivided into two groupsa control group and a treatment group.Each rat in the treatment group was treated with ADSCs via tail vein injection once a week,while each rat in the control group was injected with the same dose of saline.After eight weeks of treatment,the serum levels of BALP and TRACP were measured by ELISA.The expression of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) in femur was detected by immunohistochemical staining technique.In addition,the pathological changes of bone were observed by HE staining.All data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and LSD-t test using SPSS 13.0 software.Results Compared with the sham operation group,the rats in the ovx group showed lower serum level of BALP and higher content of TRACP.Morphology analysis showed that the trabeculae were more narrow,broken more and less in number in the ovx group.In addition,the treatment group showed higher serum level of BALP [(49±7) mU/ml,(42±5) mU/ml,respectively] and lower TRACP [(31±5) μg/L,(37±5) μg/L,respectively] content than the control group (P＜0.05).Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that the treatment group had higher OPG expression (0.011 3±0.001 6) in femur than the control group (0.007 7±0.001 5),however,no significant difference in RANKL protein expression level was detected.Moreover,treatment with ADSCs induced extensive new trabecular bone formation and reduced potential tissue damage in the trabecular bone when compared with the control group.Conclusion Transplantation of ADSCs via tail vein injection protects against ovariectomy induced bone changes in rat model.The results of this study suggests that this treatment may potentially be used in the treatment of osteoporosis.