Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2012, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (45): 8445-8452.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2012.45.016

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Effects of intravenous transplantation of human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells on the improvement of brain function after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats

Yan Xiao-hua1, Yu Zhen2, Liu Wei3, Xu Xin1, Zhou Zhi-qing1, Zhang Li-na1   

  1. 1Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangsu Province, China
    2Department of Pediatrics, Yongfeng County Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Ji’an, Yongfeng County 331500, Jiangxi Province, China
    3Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi Province, China
  • Received:2012-02-01 Revised:2012-05-16 Online:2012-11-04 Published:2012-11-04
  • About author:Yan Xiao-hua☆, Doctor, Associate chief physician, Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangsu Province, China yanxiaohua456@yahoo.com.cn Yu Zhen, Attending physician, Department of Pediatrics, Yongfeng County Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Ji’an, Yongfeng County 331500, Jiangxi Province, China xymu2001phd2@yahoo.com Yan Xiao-hua and Yu Zhen contributed equally to this work.

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Abstract:

BACKGROUND: We have explored the effect and the mechanism of human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells transplantation in repairing neural function after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats from many aspects, such as the nerve cells replacement, promoting the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous neural stem cells, protecting the neurons, promoting the synaptic reconstruction and reducing the white matter damage.
OBJECTIVE: To transplant human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells via the vein across the blood-brain barrier and then into the brain tissue, to study the effects of intravenous transplantation of human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells in repairing the brain function after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in neonatal rats.
METHODS: The 7 days Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats were divided into three groups: sham-operation group, hypoxic-ischemic brain damage group and transplantation group. In the sham-operation group, the left common carotid artery was isolated without ligation; rats in the hypoxic-ischemic brain damage group were used to establish the hypoxic-ischemic brain damage model; in the transplantation group, the human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted via tail vein at 8 days after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage, and the rats in the sham-operation group and hypoxic-ischemic brain damage group received intravenous injection of normal saline in the same dose.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Immunofluorescence observations showed that the human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells migrated to the hippocampus at 5 weeks after transplantation. Nissl staining showed the Nissl bodies of pyramidal cells in left hippocampal dentate gyrus area was increased significantly after transplantation, it indicated that the mesenchyamal stem cells could differentiate into neurons after transplantation. Behavioral test results showed that when compared with the sham-operation group, rats in the hypoxic-ischemic brain damage group had a reduced spontaneous alternation rate in T-maze acquisition tests, the rats took more time in finding the three arms baited with water and had an increased number of working and reference memory errors in radial maze acquisition tests (P < 0.05); at 5 weeks after umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells transplantation, the indicators above were improved (P < 0.05). Intravenous transplantation of human umbilical blood mesenchymal stem cells can improve and enhance the long-term learning and memory and spatial discrimination ability of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage rats.

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