Effect of high-dose methylprednisolone on spinal cord injury in rats treated with BMSC transplantation

CHENG Yaoyu; YANG Xinming; ZHANG Zhenliang; KANG Cong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2017.21.004

Abstract：Objective To investigate the effect of high dose of methylprednisolone (MP) on spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats treated with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) transplantation. Methods Seven-two male T10 SCI models were prepared by modified Allen method. The rats were randomly divided into the control group, MP group (which was injected with MP 30 mg/kg), BMSC group (which was injected with 2 mL BMSC suspension after 2 h of model formation), and MP+BMSC group (which was treated with the above two intervention methods). The motor function of the hind limbs was evaluated by BBB score on day 1, 7 and 14 after modeling, and morphological changes of spinal cord were observed under light microscope. The expression of TNF-α and Caspase-3 in the spinal cord of rats was detected by immunohistochemistry. The cell viability of transplantated BMSCs was detected by BrdU staining in spinal cord tissues. Results Compared with the other three groups, the BBB score of MP + BMSC group was statistically significant on day 7 and 14 after modeling (P<0.05). Histological showed edema and neuronal viability were significant in the control group with the least survival neurons, followed by MP group and BMSC group, and the MP+BMSC group was the slightest with the most survival neurons. There were significant differences in TNF-α and the number of Caspase-3 positive cells between MP+BMSC group and the other three groups (all P<0.05). The neuronal viability of transplantated BMSCs in MP + BMSC group was higher than that in BMSC group (P<0.05). Conclusion MP facilitates the hind limb motor function recovery in SCI rats treated with BMSC transplantation, reduces the level of local TNF-α expression, and effectively promotes the survival of transplanted BMSC.