Transplantation of human umbilical cord derived-mesenchymal stem cells by different ways for the treatment of spinal cord injury

Liu Yu-liang; Li Jun; He Yu-qin; Zhuo Feng; Wei Kai-bin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2015.14.011

Abstract：BACKGROUND:Currently, human umbilical cord derived-mesenchymal stem cel s are mainly for local transplantation, which has some shortcomings, such as large trauma, bleeding, complications, that limit its widespread application in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the feasibility of intravenous transplantation of human umbilical cord derived-mesenchymal stem cel s for repair of spinal cord injury. METHODS:Eighty Wistar rats with spinal cord hitting were divided into five groups:blank control group with no transplantation (n=10), DMEM local transplantation group (n=15), DMEM intravenous transplantation group (n=15), cel local transplantation group (n=20), cel intravenous transplantation group (n=20). The functional recovery of spinal cord injury was observed with Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scores at regular time as wel as hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry staining. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:During 1 day to 2 weeks after transplantation, there was no significant difference in the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scores between the five groups;within 4-12 weeks after transplantation, the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scores were significantly higher in the two cel transplantation groups than the other three groups, but there was no difference between these two cel transplantation groups (P>0.05). Histological observation showed that the number of voids and glial scars was less in the cel local transplantation group and cel intravenous transplantation group compared with the other three groups, and there was also no difference between the two cel transplantation groups. These results indicate that the intravenous transplantation of human umbilical cord derived-mesenchymal stem cel s is similar to the local transplantation in the repair of acute spinal cord injury, which is simple and avoids secondary injuries and various complications. It is recommended that this method provide a new approach for cel transplantation.