Abstract:

BACKGROUND: C5a is an important mediator and chemokine of inflammation, which plays an important role in the process of traumatic brain injury (TBI) pathogenesis.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) transplantation and C5a receptor antagonist on TBI.
METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were prepared to the heavy-duty hydraulic traumatic brain injury models and they were randomly divided into three groups: TBI group, hUC-MSCs transplantation group and hUC-MSCs transplantation plus C5a receptor antagonist group (C5a+hUC-MSCs group).
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At 1-4 weeks after transplantation, the modified neurological severity scores (mNSS) were lower in the hUC-MSCs and C5a+hUC-MSCs groups than in the TBI group (P < 0.05, 0.01), while mNSS were decreased significantly in the C5a+hUC-MSCs group. The average time of escape latency was gradually decreased in each group; however, it was much shorter in the C5a+hUC-MSCs group than in the other two groups at 3-5 days (P < 0.05). The frequency of platform passing and the percentage of swimming distance traveled in the previous target quadrant in the C5a+hUC-MSCs group were significantly greater than those in the TBI group and hUC-MSCs group. It is indicated that UC-MSCs transplantation combined with C5a receptor antagonist can significantly improve the neurological function in the rats.