A comparative study of therapeutic benefits of intraspinal and intravenous bone marrow stromal cell administration to spinal cord injuries.

BACKGROUND Recent reports demonstrated that intravenous route, as a minimally invasive method and similar to direct injection, is suitable for bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) transplantation. In this study, we made a comparison of intraspinal and intravenous route of BMSC administration to repair injured spinal cord tissue. METHODS Six groups of adult female rats were used in this study. Laminectomy and spinal cord injury were carried out at first lumbar vertebra level (L1). Labeled stromal cells were administered intraspinally and intravenously in experimental groups one week after spinal cord injury. In control groups, serum was administered in the same way. Another groups consisted of laminectomy alone and spinal cord injury. Behavioral testing was performed weekly to 5 weeks post injury. Tissue processing and immune-histochemical studies were performed four weeks after cell transplantation. RESULTS Mean of Basso-Beattie-Bresnehan (BBB) scale scores in intraspinal and intravenous groups were 15.8 +/- 0.44 and 15.6 +/- 0.54, while in their controls were 10.6 +/- 0.33 and 10.6 +/- 0.56, respectively. BBB scale in laminectomy and spinal cord injury groups were 21 and 10.5 +/- 0.36, respectively. Immuno-histochemical staining visualized BMSC in the site of injury. Differentiation of a few implanted cells to neuron and glial cell was detected in intravenous group, while only differentiation to glial cells was detected in intraspinal group. CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that intravenous administration of BMSC, such as intraspinal method, provides therapeutic benefits for SCI.